The Crown Prince
by Shadow-Hawk2
Summary: The children of Duo Maxwell and Emperor Trey (Trowa Barton) continue the adventure. The Calabrian Empire is threatened from within and secrets from the past are exposed.
1. Chapter 1 A marriage is agreed upon

No, this has not been in the works for 12 years. But I had a little time this summer and decided to pick it up.

This is another sequel to **_The Lost Prince_** in which Trowa Barton learns of his true identity.

While his Gundam Wing name is not mentioned, Trowa Barton is, in this story, the man known as Trey.

This story focuses on the lives of his children and those of Duo Maxwell in the binary system, the Calabrian Empire.

It's romance and adventure with fantasy/science fiction elements.

I hope you enjoy it.

 **Part One: The Warlord**

 **Chapter 1**

 ** _Second Moon, Ulfynaeus_**

 ** _Calabrian Empire_**

"My lord, I give you my word on the honor of my father's house that I would never do anything to hurt or dishonor your daughter."

Lady Quynn of house Maxwell looked from Amyr, crown prince of the Calabrian Empire, who had just spoken the words in earnest to her father. How could Lord Duo resist that look in Amyr's warm light brown eyes when not a single person, herself especially, could deny Amyr anything?

But her father looked sternly at the young man standing humbly before him and for several moments there was only tense silence that lasted until the emperor, Amyr's father, spoke.

"I hope that he is sincere and that he understands the implication of making an oath on the honor of _my_ house."

Quynn worried that Amyr had made a mistake by invoking his father's house, and she looked quickly at him. Amyr didn't bother using any charm on his father, because he knew that no amount of honeyed words was going to work on the most powerful man in the binary system. His father made no secret of his disappointment in the behavior of his eldest son, and while making a match with the daughter of his closest friend should be cause for celebration, he was openly suspicious of his motives.

"I know what I am saying, my lord father. I want all of you to understand the depth of my honorable intentions toward Lady Quynn. I want her as my wife."

"Are you sure this isn't some stunt to win your father's approval?" asked her father, Lord Duo Maxwell, the governor of the second moon, Ulfynaeus, voicing what the others were probably thinking.

But Quynn wanted to shout at him for even suggesting such a thing. She looked at her mother to see if she would scold him or at least give him the glare he richly deserved, but she was staring at Amyr waiting for him to respond.

"What do you expect him to say?" Quynn suddenly burst out, frustrated by their lack of faith in the man that she wished to marry. Did they also have so little faith in her judgment?

Her father shot her such a dark look that she bit her lip and had to check the impulse to step back. This was a male dominated society, and Quynn had difficulty adjusting to the radical change in the role of a female on Calabria. When she accepted Amyr's proposal, she also accepted his way of life even if she did not agree with it. If her outspoken, highly intelligent mother could be happy in such a place, then Quynn could be too. She wanted the deep love and devotion that her mother had found with her father, and Quynn knew she would only get that with Amyr. His parents were also happily married, so with such role models, how could they fail?

She knew her own feelings and she was sure of his. Quynn couldn't be happy with anyone but Amyr and if her father refused Amyr, Quynn knew her heart would break. She could never envision having the feelings that she shared with Amyr for any other man. When she had met him on a trip to Calabria to stay with her father, she felt an instant attraction that had erupted into deep feelings that she could not control. She all but fled Calabria to escape those feelings to return to the human solar system to finish her term of military service in the space defense where she served as a pilot.

Quynn had hoped that time and distance would help her forget the arrogant crown prince of Calabria. But none of the men she dated during their separation made her feel what he did. So when her compulsory military service came to an end, she volunteered to deliver a hyperspace craft purchased by the empire. When she landed at Edgeland Fortress, Amyr was there waiting to greet her. He had felt as she had during the months they had spent apart, and after just a few days together, they had decided to marry. Now she couldn't imagine a future without him and she knew that he felt the same.

"I would not use Quynn to earn respect from my father." Amyr didn't look at the emperor, but focused his attention on Lord Duo. Quynn wished she could do something to bring Amyr and his father together, but she supposed she would have to wait until Amyr proved himself in the emperor's eyes. Having spent so little time among the Calabrians, she did not know how he would go about doing it, but she assumed it would have something to do with swords and blood-letting.

"At least you have sense enough to know that ploy would never work with me," grunted Emperor Trey.

Quynn could see that Amyr was clenching his fists at his side, proving that he was not unaffected by his father's disdain. His mother did nothing to intervene between her husband and eldest son; she knew her place in this patriarchal society even though Quynn suspected the woman still carried a sword and could cut off body parts without even flinching. Lady Arora was as deadly as she was beautiful, but now she deferred to her husband as he decided the fate of their son.

When no one said anything for a few minutes, Quynn couldn't take the silence any more. "So what is the hold up? Let's get this over with."

Her father looked sternly at her again, but before he could say anything, Quynn's mother left her place beside the emperor's wife and taking Quynn's arm, escorted her to the door. "A female may be present in the meeting between the males of her house and those of her prospective mate, but she must only observe. You told me that you could follow custom, but I can see that you cannot, so you must leave."

Quynn felt guilty for her behavior because it did not reflect well on her father, but she was annoyed by the proceeding. "I didn't realize they were going to rake Amyr over the coals," she whispered to her mother furiously.

Her mother's gaze met hers. "You are young and in love for the first time. Your father is only trying to protect you from what could be a disastrous match." Trynity Stryfe did not add that he must also protect the honor of his house. There was little that bent Calabrians out of shape more than the suggestion of dishonor to one's house and her father had worked hard to earn his place in the empire. Taking a mate from the human solar system instead of a Calabrian woman from an imperial house was certainly not the least of his infamies. Quynn had sensed that even the emperor who had known his mother on Earth did not approve of her father's choice to marry the woman he had always loved.

Her mother opened the door and gave Quynn a little shove. "Let us determine his suitability to be your husband. We already know how _you_ feel." Before she could argue that Amyr felt the same, the door closed and she heard the lock slip into place.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your mouth shut."

Quynn turned around to see her two brothers waiting. Stryfe had arrived with her from the solar system and had recently received the post of scribe for the emperor while Taeron was the imperial guard responsible for keeping Amyr safe, a position for which he had trained hard his whole life. Their father, although now the governor of the second moon, was Emperor Trey's imperial guard, so Taeron was proud to follow in his footsteps to serve the emperor's son.

For the past year Taeron had spent nearly every moment with the crown prince and had been called on to protect him several times. There were those among the imperial nobility who did not approve of the changes that had slowly transformed the empire. Once a world of warring houses held together by a ruthless emperor, the Calabria ruled by Trey was peaceful. Despite the resulting prosperity, dissenting lords had sent challengers expecting to defeat Prince Amyr, but none had gotten past Taeron. Quynn remembered when she had met her half-brother and they had spoken of how his sword had not been used to take a life. Now it had drank the blood of many and he had earned a reputation that ensured Amyr's safety.

Stryfe had spoken when she entered the hall, so Quynn glared at him, although she felt more censure from her Calabrian half-brother. "I didn't take it literally when they told me I wasn't allowed to speak."

"You wanted this," he reminded her. "I told you that you wouldn't like the lifestyle of a Calabrian woman, but you said…"

"I know!" she snapped irritably. She was anxious about what they were saying inside her father's office that she could not hear and she wished she had not left Amyr alone to face her parents and his own. At least when she was in the room he had an ally.

Sighing, she looked at Taeron, who was standing with his back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "Don't you ever relax?"

"I am relaxed. If he gets himself killed in there, there's nothing much I can do about it." Taeron's lips were tilted in a half-smile that reminded her of their father when he was not being an overbearing warlord.

Quynn dropped down onto a padded bench seat near him. "I had hoped that Amyr would have settled his differences with his father by now."

Taeron didn't respond.

Quynn looked at him. "You don't approve of our marriage either, do you?"

"My duty is to protect the crown prince." Quynn noticed that he had not given her an answer. Taeron was an imperial guard first and a brother second.

"He doesn't have too many fans here," commented Stryfe. "I read in father's morning news reports that the zenoite chieftains are opposed to your marriage to him."

Quynn didn't want to hear about more opposition to her marriage. She wondered if Stryfe would be writing about the opposition in his account to the emperor, but she did not ask because she did not want to give him ideas. "I know he has made mistakes, but he has changed."

"Can a leopard change its spots?" asked Taeron without a smile.

She glared at her Calabrian half-brother. "What do you know about leopards? There aren't any on Calabria or in this whole damn binary system for that matter."

"Lady Virineia told me about them," explained Taeron. The emperor's mother had treated Taeron like a grandson when he lived among the imperial first family because his father had refused to acknowledge him. She wasn't surprised that the human woman who had been trapped on Calabria many years ago would give Taeron an education about the home system of his father. Lady Virineia had returned to Earth married to Quynn's grandfather. While the emperor's mother taught at the Cinq Kingdom academy, Ivan Stryfe commanded an army of engineers that had built the hyper-space craft Quynn had piloted to Calabria.

Quynn turned back to Stryfe. "Why should the chieftains oppose marriage between me and the crown prince? Do they prefer to marry their own daughters to him?"

"Hardly," muttered Taeron.

She kept her eyes on Stryfe rather than respond to Taeron's sarcasm. Taeron was an overbearing Calabrian, like his father.

Stryfe seemed reluctant to look at her. "From what I understood of the report, the most powerful among them, the zenoite Meridon, has stated that the daughter of Lord Duo is wasted on Prince Amyr."

Quynn knew of Amyr's history with Meridon. The old chieftain had refused to recognize Trey's reign because he had not wielded the blade that had ended his father's reign. Even worse, many of the tribes who had rallied to stand with Meridon had been harried by Crown Prince Trey upon the orders of his father during his reign. The rebellion had been the last significant challenge to the emperor and when Meridon had been defeated, the emperor gave him the choice between giving his oath of loyalty or exile to the second moon. When he chose exile and his enormous tribe had been transported to the moon, Quynn's father had been given the task of ruling in the emperor's name. Many tribes of the Wastelands and hills had chosen exile, and while known as zenoites because of their refusal to acknowledge the end of his reign, they had little love of that emperor either. But, like all Calabrians, they respected his strength and viewed Trey's benevolent rule as a sign of weakness. Quynn thought it more likely that Meridon was still angry that Amyr had attempted to seduce one of his daughters during the time that Amyr's father had sent him to the moon to govern in Lord Duo's place when his imperial guard had gone to the solar system with Princess Shamara to rescue Prince Dagan of Bayman. Quynn had heard her mother remark that the old zenoite was the most stubborn male alive and that he could neither forgive, nor forget.

But how could the chieftains on the moon believe her wasted on the heir of the emperor, the most powerful man in the binary system? "Why…why would they…?"

Before she could form the question she did not want to ask and did not want to hear the answer to, the door opened and her mother motioned for Taeron and Stryfe to enter. She didn't know enough about their society to gauge whether it was good or bad that the males of her father's house were called inside. Quynn wiped her hands nervously on her skirt now as she waited alone in the corridor. These long skirts were good for something. This manner of dress was yet another thing to get used to when she had worn knit pants and shirts in the colonies that were easier to move in to do her job as pilot and military officer. That clothing would shock the imperials although many women at Trey's court often wore gowns of clinging fabric that was every bit as revealing.

She was not alone for long as she waited because further down the corridor Amyr's younger brother, Prince Staefyn rounded the corner. Seeing her, he stopped, glanced in the direction he had been heading, then turned and came to her instead. Close in age to Taeron, he could often be seen tagging behind Amyr and Taeron, but he was not quite part of their intimate friendship. Quynn liked Staefyn as if he were a younger brother, saw him in the same light that she did her Calabrian brother. He was as handsome as Amyr, but he did not quite have that quality in him that attracted females of which the crown prince had a surfeit. Calabrian males could be quite threatening, but Staefyn made her feel comfortable.

He came to her and took her hands, and he raised them to kiss with a brush of his lips. "You will be the most beautiful of my sisters."

She felt herself blushing and his touch was pleasantly warm, but she was conscious of how his holding her hand might be perceived, especially by the chieftains of the second moon whose views on women were beyond backward. Quynn had rarely seen their women because they were seldom allowed to leave the camps scattered on the moon. She knew that her mother sometimes visited the camps as a healer, and when she did, she wore concealing robes and veils covering her from head to foot so that she did not offend the men. If any of those men saw her holding Prince Staefyn's hands, they might consider her behavior dishonorable to her father's house. And having heard that the men of those tribes had given unfavorable opinions about Quynn's proposed marriage to Amyr, she now drew her hands away from his brother, but she smiled at Staefyn.

"I have not seen much of you since my return." When she first arrived, he had been en route from a visit to his sister, Chaela who was now married to Prince Avar of Teralon. Since his return she had caught a few glimpses of him, but she spent almost all of her free time with Amyr, Taeron always nearby to protect him and to chaperon her, and Staefyn seemed disinclined to share their company.

"Something I truly regret," said Staefyn, his smile charming. "But I will be able to see you often when you have exchanged vows with my brother."

"I think I heard Taeron say that you have been courting a woman in the sacred hills."

For a moment he seemed disconcerted, and then his cheeks grew pink and when he looked away for a moment, she thought of how different he was from Amyr. Before he had begun courting Quynn, Amyr would have bragged about his conquest in the hills, but Staefyn was more discreet in his behavior. "I have not begun to court her officially." He raised his dark green gaze to hers. "She does not yet realize how I feel about her."

She was suddenly embarrassed by his awkwardness. Was he reaching for her hands again?

The door to her father's office opened again and her mother appeared. "You may come back in."

She expected Staefyn to congratulate her or at least stay to discover the outcome, but when she turned to him, she found that he had already gone. She truly hoped that the woman that he cared for returned his affection because Staefyn deserved happiness. He was the son that made his parents proud, the modest prince that cherished his mother and could often be found at his father's side. Amyr could learn much from his brother.

Mentally shaking her head, she chided herself for her disloyal thought about Amyr's behavior. Who could say that Staefyn would be any different if he had been born first?

Sighing, she wiped her hands again in the folds of her elegant Calabrian gown as she followed her mother inside.

No one seemed to be pleased.

No one except Amyr.

He smiled as he came to her and took her hands. "They have agreed!"

Quynn wished their parents would look a little happier about it.

"Amyr wants this done as soon as possible," said Lord Duo stiffly.

"Probably so you won't come to your senses and change your mind," remarked the emperor aloud.

"I won't change my mind!" blurted Quynn as she squeezed Amyr's hands tighter. "I don't know why you four, of all people, can't understand our feelings."

"Don't worry about me," said Amyr softly. "I don't need their approval when I have yours."

"I prefer to give my approval to those that earn it," said his father with a direct stare that Amyr couldn't hold. When Amyr looked away, the emperor made a sound of disgust and walked out.

Amyr's mother stopped to hug and kiss Quynn's cheeks. "I will pray to the gods to give you happiness." Quynn was heartbroken that her wishes didn't seem to extend to the son she didn't even look at as she walked out.

Quynn looked up at Amyr's face. He didn't show any sign that their indifference to his happiness bothered him. "I will make you happy," Amyr told her softly with a gaze that made her heart beat faster and her knees nearly buckle.

"We have no doubt of that," said her father, his tone obviously a threat. "The oath will be done here tonight at the supper banquet. The chieftains will be invited to attend to witness."

"Then tomorrow we will go to Calabria where you will exchange vows before the imperial nobility," added her mother. "Following that, you and Amyr will perform the bonding ceremony in the palace plaza for the people to see."

"Why can't we just do the whole thing here?" she asked with frustration. She wasn't sure what the bonding ceremony entailed, but she assumed it was something similar to a human wedding. She smiled shyly at Amyr. "I don't want to wait another day."

He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them both, then moved closer not taking his gaze from hers. "I do not want to wait another moment to be joined with you, but we cannot risk offending the nobility, and Lady Larya is on the surface with my uncle waiting to prepare the celebration."

Quynn felt her insides melting as she gazed into his pale brown eyes. "I will try to curb my impatience." Nobody would dare ruin any plans Lady Larya would be making for the ceremony at the imperial court. Taeron's mother was more intimidating than the emperor.

Before Amyr could say anything else, her mother hooked an arm around Quynn's and gently drew her away from him. "There will be plenty of time for cow's eyes after you have been wed. Larya anticipated the result you wished and provided a lovely gown for you to wear tonight. You should try it on so that any alterations can be made before this evening."

She barely had a chance to look at Amyr again before her mother rushed her out. "Mom! Can't I have a little more time with Amyr?"

"There are still details to work out. Your father and the emperor have negotiated the marriage contract, so now they will inform Amyr of the details."

She paused by her brothers before leaving and Taeron gave her a grim look before he crossed the room to stand near their father.

Stryfe hugged her. "Congratulations! I know how you feel about him, so I am sure that the two of you will be as happy as our parents."

With a glance past him to where Taeron stood, Quynn wondered what it meant that the man who knew Amyr best did not wish her well.


	2. Chapter 2 Lingering doubts

**sChapter 2**

Most of the afternoon Quynn spent getting ready for the ceremony that would take place that evening. All she had to do was to agree to exchange vows with Amyr, the second proper step towards marrying Amyr, the first being the agreement between houses which included a marriage contract between the heads of the houses. She did not care what her father worked out with the emperor, not even enough to wonder what either of them could want from the other since they were closer than most brother. Once she and Amyr exchanged their promises to make good on the agreement between their houses, they were as good as married because the promise was binding. The exchange of vows on the morrow at the Calabrian court was a formality, yet one that could not be avoided because the imperial nobility would be angered to be excluded from the ceremony that would join the emperor's house with that of his imperial guard, the most trusted of his warlords.

"Then you and Amyr will perform the bonding ceremony in the plaza below the palace," her mother explained that afternoon after Quynn tried on the beautiful shimmering green gown that Taeron's mother had made for her. Lady Larya was the governor of the first moon, Dagmaeus, and while she was an exacting administrator, she enjoyed designing clothing for which many imperials paid dearly. Quynn had never felt such a fabric before and her mother told her that it probably came from a frontier market. Although contact with frontier worlds was rare, Lady Larya had allies among the unsavory individuals who would trade there from the days when the emperor had banished her to the space pirate satellite after she had attempted to kill him. The Calabrian woman was tenacious, ruthless and clever enough to have fought and worked herself to her present position. Lady Larya might be reviled by the imperial nobility for her past, but Quynn respected her as much as she did her own mother.

As Quynn admired how she looked in the lovely floor-length gown, Trynity sat on a chair watching silently for a moment before she said, "You must be absolutely certain that you want to spend the rest of your life with Amyr before you perform the bonding ritual."

Her serious tone startled Quynn. "You're scaring me, mom. What is this ritual?" Amyr had not told her of any unusual traditions, but then he had given her few details about how their marriage would proceed.

"After exchanging vows, you and Amyr will pour water from the sacred hills into a chalice and after both of you add drops of your bood, you and Amyr will drink from the chalice."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Mom, you did not really do that with father, did you?" She could not see her sensible, intelligent mother submitting to such a barbaric ritual.

She frowned, then laughed. "Trey has only a grudging respect for me, Quynn, and he has never forgiven me for not telling Duo that I was pregnant when we were on Calabria, so he demanded that I perform the ritual when I returned to Calabria to be with your father. I argued that it was unhealthy and that I believed it caused sickness in the males, but he told me to choose between bonding and the wormhole."

"And you chose the ceremony." Quynn was not surprised that her mother would choose a primitive custom over leaving the love her life behind. "Did father get sick?"

"No, and neither did I, but I am sure there is something in the water that adversely affects Calabrian males. I need more time to study its effects, but I am still an outsider to these people so they are not eager to share their customs with me. I doubt even they know what is happening, but they view the ingesting of some organism in the water that seems to increase testosterone levels as some marriage gift from the gods. I was hoping to learn more before your marriage, but I have run out of time." She patted Quynn's hands. "Do not worry about Amyr. My understanding of the sickness is that it makes the males unusually amorous and excessively attentive to the needs and safety of their mates, and if there is more to it, I have yet to discover it."

Trynity's brow was wrinkled and Quynn knew she was thinking about this puzzle that had her stumped. She would eventually analyze it until she had unlocked its secrets.

Quynn laughed. "If this wedding were on Earth, I think a few glasses of champagne and some revealing lingerie would do the same thing as this bonding ceremony." She wished she had the foresight to bring some with her when she returned. The only garment on the ship was the battle suit that she had agreed to test. The skintight uniform had electronics embedded that communicated with the ship which would make it easier to pilot in battle conditions. Covering from neck to feet, is design would probably put Amyr in the proper frame of mind for a wedding night, but it was difficult to get on and off, so it was not conducive to a romantic night.

Her mother put her hand on her cheek and smiled at her. "I don't think Prince Amyr needs to be more amorous with you. I have seen the way he looks at you. After the ceremony you will spend several weeks at Guerani Palace in the mountains with Amyr until the sickness has eased. They call it a mating ritual."

"That is quite the honeymoon!" Quynn felt herself blushing as she imagined spending that much time with a randy Calabrian male.

"Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?" She squeezed Quynn's hands to reassure her, probably hoping that Quynn would confess some lingering reservation about marrying Amyr.

Her mother's doubt bothered Quynn, but she refused to let it affect her. "Mom, I know that you grew to love pops, but I see how happy you and father are, how deeply you love each other even after everything that has happened, and I want the same."

"I will pray to the gods that Amyr is the man who can make you that happy." She released her and headed to the door. "You should get some rest. These celebrations can last all night."

Long after her mother left her, Quynn gave up trying to rest. She paced her room instead of lying on the comfortable pile of pillows and cushions that served as a Calabrian bed, and then she decided to go in search of Amyr. Surely he was done speaking to her father, and she felt the need for a little reassurance of his feelings for her. Quynn was sure they could overcome anything together. The people who didn't trust Amyr didn't know him like she did.

As she came closer to the wing where her father's office was located, she spied a group of men with their heads together. She recognized them as important men from the tribes her father ruled. They dressed in dark colors with head wraps, and while they did not wear their weapons in the governor's palace, Quynn knew they disdained the imperial long sword for two curved short swords. No doubt the chieftains that had come for the ceremony were closeted with her father and these clansmen had accompanied them. She didn't hear much of what they discussed in such hushed whispers, but she did hear Amyr's name mentioned and the name of another, Dilan. Quynn didn't know who Dilan was, but their tone when saying his name was not pleasant. When they saw her, they bowed respectfully, then politely excused themselves. Her father was busy, so Quynn retraced her steps to her room to do as her mother suggested. Her head was beginning to ache, so she thought a nap would do her some good.

Stryfe was waiting in her room. "Hey, sis, Mom said you were in here."

She went to her bag and pulled out a bottle of pain reliever. "I suppose I'll have to learn to do without this once my supply runs out."

"Don't worry. Mom cultivates some leaves that make a tea that is even more effective. She's become quite the natural healer." Stryfe sat on the edge of her bed. "I can't believe that you are going to be married tomorrow."

Quynn popped the pills in her mouth and sat beside him after swallowing them with a mouthful of tepid water that she poured into a cup from a pitcher left that morning by a servant. Cold running water from a faucet was something else she would have to learn to do without. Along with forms of entertainment that did not include twirling swords. And food that wasn't recently crawling or slithering. Or being able to voice her opinion in public without worrying about offending an imperial warlord with her audacity.

She was grateful that Stryfe had come to speak to her. They were twins, born to her mother after she had been separated from their father. While her father had made his life on Calabria, her mother had married another man to help her raise them as she spent the years in medical school and then building a practice on Mars Colony. She and Stryfe had not known that her husband was not their father until he had died and Lord Duo had come back into her mother's life. Now they had another half-brother as well as a twin brother and sister. The Calabrians thought it was the will of the gods that Lord Duo be given a second chance with the woman he loved, and maybe it was, but her mother knew that she was genetically predisposed to having twins, having had a twin brother of her own that had been killed with her mother during the war. If Calabrians considered the bearing of twins a sign from the gods, perhaps giving them to Amyr would improve him in the eyes of his people. Was she really thinking about having children already? How did she go from piloting advanced spacecraft to this?

Sighing, she looked at her brother. "Are you happy for me, Stryfe? I don't think that Taeron approves of my marriage to Amyr."

"Maybe Taeron is too close to Amyr. You have to admit that he has probably seen the worst of your husband-to-be those months when we were finishing our military duty."

She remembered the bits of conversation she had heard in the hall and realized that her brother probably knew what they had been talking about. Since coming to Calabria, he had spent many hours in the imperial archives and had already absorbed much about their history and culture. "Have you heard of a person named Dilan? I heard some men in the hall talking about him."

Stryfe shifted uncomfortably, then after a pause he told her, "They were probably talking about Prince Dilan, the half-brother of Lady Arora."

"I've never heard of him," said Quynn, her brows drawing together in a frown.

"He isn't spoken of very often. Dilan's mother, the courtesan Lady Xuxa, convinced Emperor Zeno that Dilan was his son, so after Trey disappeared, Dilan was named crown prince."

"Did Trey kill him when he returned?" asked Quynn curiously. She didn't know much about Calabrian history and was embarrassed that she did not know these details about Amyr's family.

"Well, Trey told me that he expected to fight Dillan to regain his position, but Zeno reinstated him immediately upon his return and repudiated Dilan as Dax's offspring. Trey did have to fight to take Lady Arora away from Dilan who had a claim to her as head of his house, being Dax's oldest offspring. Dilan wanted to take Arora as his mate."

Quynn's nose wrinkled with disgust. "Although they were brother and sister?"

"Such things are not uncommon among the Guerani," he told her. "Valerya was Dax's sister and the royal family of Bayman continued for many generations with marriage between siblings until Dagan's mother was poisoned by his half-sister, precipitating his marriage to Princess Shamara. Some ancient civilizations on Earth practiced ..."

She raised a brow and he realized that he had gotten carried away with his explanation. Stryfe was well suited for his position in the imperial household. "Anyway, Trey killed Dilan," he finished.

"What does any of this have to do with Amyr?"

Stryfe shrugged. "Taeron can probably explain better than I. He is a Calabrian male, so he has some insight that I do not." She suspected that Stryfe did not want to discuss it and since he was the emperor's scribe, she did not press him.

"I suppose Taeron is with Amyr." Seeing him before the ceremony might be bad luck, but Quynn was hoping to find them together. She wanted to see Amyr more than Taeron anyway.

"Taeron was in the garden alone when I came up here," said Stryfe, disappointing her. "I would guess that Amyr is holed up somewhere praying for guidance from the gods."

Quynn wondered if she should be doing the same, but since she was new to this whole business with gods, she would not know how to go about it. After the Guerani had discovered that their "gods" had actually been parasitic entities from beyond the frontier that had taken residence in their bodies, Quynn wasn't sure why the Calabrians stuck to their beliefs in higher beings that took an interest in their lives.

Stryfe walked with her down to the garden to find Taeron, but before they reached it, an attractive serving girl distracted her brother and he quickly excused himself to flirt with the giggling young woman. Quynn didn't feel comfortable asking these questions in front of her twin brother anyway, so she was glad to leave him behind. She didn't like that she was starting to feel doubts about her marriage and she did not want Stryfe to realize it and hurry to tell their parents, or worse, report it to the emperor.

Sitting by himself rubbing down the sword he had carried since having it presented to him by Lady Arora upon completing his training, Taeron didn't seem surprised to see her when she came upon him in the garden. Even if he was surprised, he would never show it. Her Calabrian half-brother was the very definition of stoic and Quynn sometimes wondered if their father's initial rejection of him had made him seem indifferent.

"If you are looking for Amyr, he is with his parents."

"Last minute advice?" she asked flippantly.

Taeron's eyes met hers but he was not smiling. "Last minute warnings and threats, more likely."

Her resolve was beginning to crumble. She wished Amyr were with her to give her a little more courage. "I wanted to ask you something."

"My opinion?"

She frowned at him. "I don't need to ask to know your opinion."

"Then listen to me when I tell you it is not too late. Give Amyr more time; give yourself more time."

Now he chose to speak with passion and Quynn clenched her fists at her side as if she could fight off her own doubts. "I want to marry him now! I don't want to waste any more time. My mother was cheated of her happiness for many years, and I will not let the same thing happen to me."

"The gods will determine what is right."

Quynn was afraid of that. "I did not come here to discuss my decision to marry Amyr. I want to ask you about Prince Dilan."

Taeron's brows drew together. "Who have you been speaking to?"

So he was bothered by the mention of the dead prince? "I wasn't speaking to anyone. I overheard some men in the hall…"

"Rumors! They are spreading rumors and lies!" Taeron stood, the sword clenched in his hand and she had an inkling of what those he had killed felt before he sliced that long blade through their flesh. "There are many who would use any excuse to disinherit Amyr."

"You don't seem to be his fan either," she pointed out with a wary glance at the sword.

Taeron shot her a dark look, then sheathed the sword behind him. "I am not a fan of your marrying him yet. He is not ready for any responsibility, not of the responsibility of governing and certainly not the responsibility of marriage. He doesn't know anything but the bounty given him by his birthright, and many would like to take that birthright away from him."

Quynn reached out to put her hand on his arm. "Tell me what you know."

Taeron sank back down on the bench. "The attempts made on Amyr's life were done in the name of the emperor."

"Trey wants his own son killed?" Quynn was shocked.

"No!" Taeron denied immediately. "The assassins claimed to be doing what the emperor will not. They believe that Trey is saving the honor of his house by claiming Amyr as his son when many believe that Dilan sired him."

"Dilan!" Quynn couldn't believe that she was ignorant of such an important detail about the man she was going to marry.

Taeron looked at her, then took her hand and drew her down on the bench beside him. "Dilan took Arora away from Trey and he had her in his keeping long enough for many to raise questions, especially when Amyr was born within time for either Dilan or Trey to be his father."

Quynn felt heartsick for Amyr. "What does his mother say?"

"She would never deny her son, but many have pointed out that Trey was not with her when Amyr was born. He was caught in battle and could not return to the palace in time."

Quynn knew that it was important for a Calabrian male to claim his mate's child by assisting at the birth. It was so important that the child be born into its father's hands that she knew her father had been with her mother to perform the duty over her mother's objections. Apparently he had done well despite the added complication of twin babies.

"Some have suggested," continued Taeron, "that Prince Amyr has sprung from a bad seed, that his wastrel behavior is reminiscent of Prince Dilan."

Quynn hoped the emperor's disdain for his son did not stem from a belief that he was not his father. "What do you believe, Taeron?"

"I believe that the emperor is disappointed in his son's behavior because Amyr has taken advantage of his position to glut himself on pleasures while shirking his responsibilites. Do I believe that he is Dilan's son?" He raised a brow and met her gaze. "I do not. But his actions make many question the truth and until he proves himself capable of thinking of someone other than himself, there will always be suspicion that he could not be a seed of Trey's house." He squeezed her hand. "Does this change your mind about marrying him now?"

Quynn drew her hand away. "No! This only makes me more determined to help him gain respect."

"Marriage to you is not the answer, no matter how much you or he might think it is. He must earn it on his own."

She shot to her feet. "How can you say such a thing? Amyr wishes to marry me because he loves me and I love him! I should think you would want to see him happy."

Refusing to listen to any more of his arguments, she left him in the garden, but she heard him say, "I would not sacrifice the happiness of my sister for his selfish needs."

Returning to the wing of the palace where she could find her room, she saw Amyr waiting, leaning against the door to her room. He straightened when she approached, and saw the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he took in the elegant gown she now wore. Most of her hair was pinned up except for a few curls that dangled around her neck. When she came even with him, he slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her against him.

"You are very beautiful, Lady Quynn."

She grew warm in his arms. "In my culture, it is bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony."

Amyr lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. "I'd like to do more than see you."

She didn't admit that she felt the same. "You can wait one more day."

"Can you?" He gently pushed her against the wall, and Quynn could barely breathe as he leaned into her. At the moment she didn't think she could wait another minute to be with him.

Suddenly she detected the fragrance of a rose, and she smiled as Amyr brushed her cheek with the soft petals of the flower he must have plucked from her mother's garden. Reaching out to take it from his hand, she gasped when her finger was pricked on a thorn.

The flower dropped to the floor, and Amyr turned her hand, first kissing the pulse at her wrist, then the palm of her hand before sucking the pricked finger into his mouth. Quynn felt her knees give away from the heat radiating through her. She must have pulled his head to hers, because they were soon kissing so deeply that she was oblivious to anything but the touch and feel and smell of the man holding her. He had somehow managed to work her gown up so that she could feel his hands on her bare thighs, his fingers caressing, touching her as she had not allowed any other man to touch her. Quynn didn't care about anything but her love for him. If Amyr's needs were a little more basic, she understood when hers were becoming more earthy as well.

"My lord." In her haze, she heard Taeron's growling voice.

When he reluctantly released her, Quynn shivered as the silky fabric of her gown slithered down to cover her again and Amyr turned to look at Taeron. "I have no need of your protection now, Taeron. I do not appreciate your interference. When you were my sister's imperial guard, you were the protector of her virtue, but I do not need you to be the protector of mine." Taeron's lowered his head in mocking obeisance. "I fear you have little virtue to protect."

Amyr stared silently at his oldest friend for a moment as Quynn quickly straightened her clothing and steadied her breathing in an effort to regain some composure. She was not oblivious to the tension between the two men and hoped that she was not responsible.

Taeron spoke again. "You may be assured, my lord prince, that I will not dare to interrupt your pleasures again."

"See that you do not."

"You cannot fault me now for stopping you from making the mistake of dishonoring my lord father's house."

As Amyr ran a hand through his dark hair, Quynn looked at him quickly to see if she could find the resemblance between him and the emperor. She was disheartened to note that he looked more like his uncle Apolo than he did his father. Were the rumors true? Should she care if the emperor did not?

"The banquet will begin soon," Taeron said. "Your lord father asked me to bring you to him." Taeron looked at Quynn. "Your parents have sent for you as well."

Turning away from his guard, Amyr smiled down at her. "When next I see you, we will be exchanging vows."

She smiled up at him, looking into his eyes. "I love you, Amyr."

He brushed his lips across her forehead before turning away.

In a daze, she watched him leave with Taeron, and then she hurried into her room to check her appearance. Once she had fixed her hair and cooled down her flaming cheeks, she made her way to the private apartments of her parents. She found her mother finishing the nursing of her youngest brother while her father rocked the baby's twin sister who was fussing. Two women stood nearby waiting to take them to the nursery. Stryfe stood back with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were on one of the women who glanced at him with a shy, but knowing glance. Her brother enjoyed clinging Calabrian females, and even though he wasn't a warrior, they also seemed to enjoy his company. Stryfe had no interest in settling down, certainly not when the women of Calabria were so eager to please.

As she watched her mother smile down at the baby, Quynn imagined herself holding Amyr's child to her breast, stroking its dark hair with her fingers as her mother did to her baby brother. She mused about how her life had changed in the last two years after losing the man she believed was her father. Wracked with grief, Quynn had devoted her life to her military service and she had not given any thought to anything but being the best pilot in the kingdom, imagining how proud her father would have been. Although she had spent time training Calabrian pilots after her arrival, Quynn came to realize that she would not be displeased to never pilot another spacecraft again and that her stepfather, the man she had always thought was her father, would be proud of her decision. Nothing seemed more important now than making her life with Amyr and raising their children. He filled her life and her heart with joy.

Raising her head when the baby finished, her mother noticed her arrival, so she propped him against her shoulder and patted his back gently until he belched and then handed him over to one of the waiting women. "I see that you are ready, Quynn and you look very lovely."

"Let's get this over with," announced her father as he carefully handed her sleeping baby sister to the other woman.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm," Quynn remarked dryly.

Duo took her hand and put it on his arm to escort her. "I am sorry I cannot be more enthusiastic, Quynn, but I want you to know that you will always have our support. Unfortunately, I doubt that once you are married to Amyr, you will want to ask us for anything, no matter how much you need to."

Her mother took her other hand and curled it around her arm. "You're too proud to hear us say 'I told you so."

"You won't have to," she said with conviction. Quynn had no doubt that she would be happy with Amyr. She loved him and she was sure of his love for her.

Yet as she walked with her parents, she realized that Amyr had not told her that he loved her.


	3. Chapter 3 The oath

**Chapter 3**

Her nerves were tingling as her parents walked her into the receiving hall where Amyr and his parents were already waiting. Many important men who lived on the moon where her father governed in the emperor's name also waited to bear witness to her oath although she had heard her father complain that Meridon refused to attend and had sent his son, Darlac, in his place. The dark-clad, swarthy male stood in a group of men who were quietly talking among themselves, but the room fell silent as she entered. Taeron stood with Stryfe who would record every detail of the ceremony for the official archive, and Quynn noticed that Prince Staefyn was not in attendance. He had probably returned to the surface to help with preparations for the ceremony on the morrow. She felt even more nervous as all eyes were on her, but her panicked gaze sought and found Amyr, and his smile of encouragement calmed her.

When they reached the first imperial couple, the emperor spoke. "I think we know why we are here." He looked at Quynn and she felt a little bit of fear as he looked into her eyes, his dark green gaze intense. "You have not changed your mind?"

"I have not, my lord," she forced herself to say although she knew he surely expected a different answer. Knowing what was expected of her, she disengaged from her parent's arms and held out her hands to Amyr, and when he took them and squeezed gently, she said, "I vow on the honor of my father's house to join in marriage with you, Amyr of house Trey."

She noticed that that his hands were warm and moist, and when Amyr took a step closer to her, she felt heat rolling off him and that he was flushed. Quynn was afraid that he was sick and that he would not be able to give his oath, but he took a breath and said, "I vow on the honor of my father's house to accept you in marriage and to honor you always, Quynn of house Maxwell." He leaned forward to kiss her and she was surprised when he slipped an arm around her waist and dragged her against him. But his lips barely brushed hers before her father pulled her away from him.

Quynn knew by the disgruntled rumble that rolled through the hall that Amyr had done something wrong. She certainly didn't need to see the glare her father shot at the crown prince or hear the sound of disgust made by the emperor. Taeron had quickly reached for his sword, but she didn't know if it was to protect Amyr from what had suddenly become a hostile atmosphere or to avenge her honor of a kiss that was considerably more chaste than what he had interrupted in the corridor that afternoon.

Before escorting her to the head banquet table, Duo stopped to say to Amyr, "You have dishonored my house."

Trey put a hand on Duo's arm. "I am as appalled as you are Duo, but there is little we can do now. If you think of some recompense I can make for my son's behavior, I will be grateful to be given the chance to make amends."

She heard Amyr's mother whispering to him furiously, "You just can't control yourself, can you? Do you have any idea what you have done? Do you even care? Lord Duo has every right to punish you and don't imagine for a minute that there won't be a dearth of champions in this room that wouldn't jump at the chance to cut off the parts of you that seem to matter the most!"

Quynn did not understand their outrage or the malevolent glares the chieftains were sending their way. She expected, like the wife of the emperor, that they would be delighted if her father made further issue over the kiss. Fortunately, after a tense moment that did not seem to faze Amyr in the slightest, they took their places for the banquet. Quynn found herself seated between the emperor and his son. Her mother was on the other side of Amyr, so she hoped the women could provide a buffer between him and her father. Quynn knew her father was supposed to have been seated beside Amyr, but he was slighting the crown prince by deferring his place of honor to his wife. Quynn was starting to feel her headache returning. This was a bad start to what was supposed to be the happiest time of her life.

Before the meal began, the emperor invoked the blessing of the gods on the bounty which they had been provided and asked for their blessing on the marriage of his son to the daughter of his dear friend. There was little response at the conclusion of his prayer and she did not want to think that meant even the gods were against their union.

Beneath the table, Quynn suddenly felt Amyr touching the hands she had clasped in her lap during the prayer and he drew one hand away to lace his fingers with hers. Although Quynn did not look at him, she felt his eyes on her and she wondered if he listened to his father's prayer. There was no organized religion on Calabria, but they had a strong belief that higher powers approved or disapproved of their actions, the proof of which they saw in what happened to them in their daily lives. She had never known her father to be anything but a strong believer in the will of the gods, but she had been surprised to learn that her mother had joined in his beliefs. Amyr did not seem worried about how the gods might perceive his irreverence towards the prayer.

As soon as the emperor's invocation came to an end, the serving women hurried through the hall to lay platters of food and to dish up the meal.

"I would appreciate seeing your hands above the table," ordered Duo, speaking over his wife's head.

The girl serving Quynn giggled.

Quynn frowned at her father whose steady gaze ensured she had no choice but to obey. She wasn't a flirty adolescent but an adult woman! "We are practically married," snapped Quynn as she jerked her hands away from Amyr and picked up a fork. Her stomach felt as if it were twisted in knots and she hoped she would be able to eat.

"You will be married tomorrow," stated the emperor as he looked across Quynn straight at his son. "I hope you understand the ramifications of your little show."

"Of course I do, father." Amyr turned his attention to his food, dismissing his father and circumventing further conversation by taking a mouthful of food.

"It was just a kiss," remarked Quynn to herself although she realized that she had not seen men and women on Calabria do in public what was commonplace on Earth.

Her father seemed to be reading her mind. "Such displays of affection are not proper on Calabria," he informed her. "His action has marked you as his woman. If something prevented you from sharing the bonding cup with him, no other man will ever have you now."

Although she fully expected to marry Amyr the following day, she was still more than a little disturbed by what he had done now that she understood the reason for her father's anger. They didn't need to tell her that the men dining in the hall now probably thought she and Amyr had already been intimate. Such a thing wouldn't have bothered her if she were back in the Cinq Kingdom, but here on Calabria, she suddenly felt soiled.

She looked at Amyr from under her lashes. He had finished his plate of food and was grinning as he called the serving girl back to fill it again. As she did, she giggled and made some remark about his appetite when Amyr attacked his food with gusto. Quynn's nerves were on edge but she didn't say anything as she pushed the food around on her plate.

The emperor leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "I will be proud to welcome you to my house tomorrow."

She was glad he had said that because she felt close to tears. "Thank you, my lord."

"I know how difficult the transition will be for you," he said aloud. "The culture from which you come is very different than ours, but your mother has managed to adapt, and so shall you." He paused for a moment as his narrowed gaze rested briefly on her mother and she wondered what he was thinking. Quynn knew that they often butted heads over what her mother deemed his boorish dictates and he made no secret of his resentment over the twenty year separation between her and his beloved imperial guard for which he blamed her.

Then he said, "Duo has every reason to be as proud and protective of you as he is. If he had been given a chance, he would have raised you in our ways and he would have been a good father. He _is_ a good father."

"When I have married your son, I am not going to be hidden away, am I?" she asked with a glance towards the clanswomen who sat together away from the men, careful to remain hidden as they ate. "I was given to understand that I would continue to train pilots on the hyper-space craft."

"Imperial women have many rights and responsibilities," he told her when he followed her gaze. "And you should not be fooled by the zenoite clanswomen. They are very strong females." The emperor grinned at her. "Besides, you are the only person on Calabria who has the slightest clue how to pilot the hyper-space craft and I look forward to receiving the transports using the same technology from Earth. Staefyn's trip to and from Teralon took several weeks, so I am glad that the craft can be used to bring Chaela home for a visit with my new grandson. I am very excited for the future of my people now that we will have the means to travel further."

Since the emperor had treaties with the worlds bordering the frontier, Varoonya and Teralon, Quynn suspected he wanted to expand his reach even further to the frontier worlds were slavery was still practiced. "The king wanted me to remind you that your travel should be in a direction opposite the Cinq Kingdom."

Emperor Trey chuckled. "He has no reason to fear us. My men fight with their swords." Quynn had seen the imperial warriors training, had witnessed Taeron's prowess and knew the king had good reason to fear. "Many of the planets and kingdoms in this system join us in a disdain for the use of anything but the quality of metal they hold in their hands to prove strength."

"Strange words coming from a man who piloted a rather nasty gundam," she commented.

Trey raised a brow. "I didn't kill any Calabrians with it."

He had a point.

Quynn turned to see Amyr rising to his feet and she noticed again that he was flushed and that his skin was glistening. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I just need a little air."

Before she could offer to accompany him even though she was sure her father would refuse to allow her to go, he sauntered away with Taeron following at a discreet distance.

"Rudeness is among his many shortcomings," remarked the emperor. "Perhaps you will teach him manners."

Quynn stared down at her plate. She recognized a few beetles that had been seasoned to make them palatable, and as she popped them in her mouth she mused that she would rather have a steak and some thick cut fries and wash it down with a cold beer. She would not refuse to eat as they did on Calabria and had managed to get used to their unusual fare. Draining her cup of water, she looked for the serving woman and did not see her, and since Amyr's plate had been refilled, she probably would not see the young woman any time soon.

Glancing around the banquet hall now, she noted that many of the men were sharing conversations, heads bent together with furtive glances towards the doorway where Amyr had exited the hall. Suddenly she became very worried about his safety. Although she doubted any would wish to test Taeron, she would feel more at ease if she knew Amyr were not in danger, so after several moments had passed and Amyr did not return, Quynn decided to find out where he had gone.

When she rose and tried to leave, her mother caught her arm. "You should stay to finish your meal."

"I need to excuse myself," she said with a meaningful glance although her mother did not release her and she was unpleasantly reminded of the many times she had been unable to lie to her mother with any success.

"The food doesn't seem to agree with you or Amyr," remarked her father. By the look on his face he suspected they planned an assignation. "I would rather you didn't spend time alone with him until after you have made your vows on Calabria and performed the bonding ceremony. In light of his earlier behavior, I should think you understand my concern."

"It was just a kiss," she grumbled. When he didn't seem to be willing to bend, she reminded him, "Taeron is with him. I'm sure he is just as capable of protecting my honor as he is of protecting Amyr." Mention of his Calabrian son seemed to mollify her father who grunted and turned back to his meal.

Her mother released her. "Do not be long." She might not trust her, but she trusted Taeron as well. Taeron would never shirk his duty. She and Amyr knew that better than anyone.

Quynn hurried out a side door before Duo could override his wife and stop her. She didn't know where to look for Amyr, so she stopped one of the serving women hurrying from the kitchen to ask if she had seen him. The woman told her that the crown prince had gone through the kitchen. That room was bustling with activity, and although everyone seemed too busy to pay her any attention, one of the servants washing dishes said that he noticed the prince and his imperial guard go out the back door.

Sidestepping the busy women, Quynn managed to make it to the door then pushed it open to enter the herb garden that lead to another garden in which her mother grew medicinal plants. Further on there was a well-maintained flower garden where Calabrian blooms similar to roses vied for space with the thistles and Earth roses that her father had imported for his wife. Trees blocked out some of the light shining from the first moon, Dagmaeus, as well as the much larger illuminated planet around which the two moons revolved. All in all, it was a romantic place to be, so she hoped that she could find Amyr and spend a few moments with him even if it meant having Taeron watch over them.

She peered through the dim light and when she was about to return to the hall, she saw a movement further down the path. Thinking it might be Amyr, she hurried forward, but she suddenly stopped when she heard a woman's husky, soft laugh.

"I found you, my lord prince!"

"So you did," she heard Amyr's deep voice reply.

Quynn moved forward silently, holding her breath until she saw the two forms and she was surprised to recognize the young woman who had been serving at her table.

"You should be on your knees before your prince," she heard Amyr tease the female.

"My lord prince, you know that is my favorite place to be."

Quynn couldn't move as she watched the woman drop to her knees and as she ran her hands up his legs and beneath his tunic, Amyr smiled and shoved his fingers in her hair. "You know very well how to please your prince."

Quynn felt such deep fury that for a moment she was disoriented. If she acted, she knew she would try to kill them – both of them. But the anger was quickly replaced with humiliation. She could do nothing but watch as another woman touched him as only she should.

Disgusted by Amyr, ashamed of her own stupidity in trusting him, Quynn turned on her heel and ran back towards the receiving hall and the banquet, oblivious to the thorns slapping at her as she brushed against the roses.

When she passed a tree, she discerned a movement, and she turned her head to find herself looking at Taeron's face. Quynn realized that when she had come into the garden, he had been standing there watching her, knowing what she would find and he must have moved on purpose to guide her to Amyr. Why would he do such a thing? What could she gain? Amyr had disgraced her in the eyes of her father's people and soon enough rumors about her and Amyr would reach Calabria where she would be ruined in the eyes of the sanctimonious imperial nobility. Quynn was trapped. Amyr had made a vow to her and only moments later he was dallying in the garden with another woman. Amyr had no intention of honoring vows to her, and she had been too blind with her feelings for him to see him for the selfish Calabrian pig that he really was.

Quynn couldn't go back into the hall! She could not bear to have her shame exposed before all those people! They had all been right about Amyr and she had been so wrong. What could she do? Where could she go to get away from him?

Pressing a fist to her mouth to muffle her sob, she hurried away into the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4 Cold feet

**Chapter 4**

Amyr had every intention of enjoying Haedya's considerable skill as he had on many occasions during his trips to the second moon, but now as she touched him, his gut wrenched and a cold sweat broke out over his forehead. He had not been lying to Quynn when he said he needed air because he had grown so warm that he had begun to sweat profusely. Haedya had followed him expecting the natural conclusion to their encounters, his pleasure and the reward of a bauble on the morrow, but now as he fought not to retch, he lost all desire for what she would do. Was this guilt he was feeling? Guilt that he was betraying the beautiful young woman who had selflessly pledged to spend her life with him?

A wave of nausea passed through him that was so strong he could not fight it and he pushed Haedya away, turned and vomited violently into the bushes. When he looked back to the young woman watching him curiously, he was disgusted by the sight of her.

Her brows were raised. "Do I not please you, my lord?"

Amyr could not respond to her without behind sick again. Could he have been poisoned at Lord Duo's table? But as he stumbled away from the obliging female, he began to regain his composure. By the time he reached the spot he had ordered Taeron to wait, he felt more like himself. Taeron fell in silently behind him as he returned to the banquet hall.

Amyr regretted that the man he had grown up with had become so sullen in his company. Since he had come of age, Taeron had not turned away any of the females that found any excuse to put themselves in their path, but since Amyr had decided to marry Taeron's half-sister, Taeron had become a sanctimonious prig. It was all the more disappointing to Amyr because their interest in the females had served to bond their friendship after Taeron returned from acting as the imperial guard of the first princess, Amyr's sister. Before that experience, Amyr had never considered Taeron anything more than an annoyance that he had to tolerate like he did his brother Staefyn. In fact, he had been more than a little jealous of his friendship with Staefyn, but since his experiences as Shamara's guard, Taeron had little to do with his brother and Amyr had been glad that Taeron finally realized how deadly dull his brother really was.

On the way back to the banquet hall he kept expecting Taeron to admonish him in some way for his foul behavior, but he didn't say anything. Amyr thought he might feel better about the episode if Taeron would say something. Although he had not gotten the pleasure he was expecting, he certainly was not guiltless in betraying the vows he had given to Quynn. They had not shared the bonding cup yet, and he reasoned that he had not asked Haedya to meet him in the garden, but since she was there, why should he not enjoy one last moment of pleasure with a woman to whom he was not bonded?

Immediately he noticed that Quynn was absent from the table, and as he took his place beside her mother, he looked around the hall to see if she was speaking to someone at another table. He didn't see her anywhere and he felt an intense stab of unease.

He glanced at Lady Trynity. "Where has Quynn gone?"

She shrugged. "I believe she left to freshen up."

"The food didn't agree with her," grumbled Lord Duo.

Amyr looked at her half-cleaned plate. After the foolish mistake he had made in kissing Quynn, even as brief as it had been, he had become achingly aware of her. While he had managed to limit himself to holding her hand as his father asked for the gods' blessing, Amyr had wanted to pull her into his arms, to kiss her like he had that afternoon. He had not intended to do what he had then either, and if Taeron had not stopped him, he would have dishonored her there, in the corridor. Amyr had never felt such a need for a female, and it had grown even greater in the short amount of time they had been apart that afternoon. Sitting next to her had been excruciating, and he tried to distract himself with the food, hoping that if he satisfied that hunger, the one he had for the female whose thigh was so tantalizingly close to his would wane. When he left Quynn's side, he had been hoping to find some relief for his burning body, and when Haedya appeared he thought she would be able to ease his ache. But her practiced touch had disgusted him and filled him with self-loathing. Now his stomach churned unpleasantly as he noticed that Haedya had returned to her duties.

"Don't get sick at the table. You've insulted Duo enough for the night," commented his father, his tone as terse as any other time he scolded Amyr.

"I didn't mean to insult him," he said under his breath. Amyr had not meant to kiss her, had been appalled by the reflex that made him touch his lips to hers, to bring her body against his, but he could not stop himself and he might have done worse in full view of those men that reviled him if their parents had not intervened. By the gods, what had he been thinking? He had not been thinking at all!

Where was she? He looked around for her, even more anxious now by her continued absence. Earlier in the day shortly after leaving her in the hall, he had felt the strong need to return to her, but he had managed to relax with the help of a cup of tea his mother had brewed from leaves that Lady Trynity was cultivating. His mother assured him that he was feeling nervous and that it was a good sign that he was not entering into his union with Quynn lightly. Now Amyr had a hard time shaking a sudden need to see Quynn.

"Would you care for another helping, my lord prince?"

Amyr raised his head to see Haedya waiting. He looked quickly back at his plate and had to push back the nausea again. A trickle of sweat rolled down the side of his face and his body felt uncomfortably moist. Where was Quynn? "I haven't finished," he told Haedya.

"I can remedy that," she purred close to his ear before walking away with a sway of her hips.

Amyr felt sick to his stomach, and he had to swallow back what rose to his throat. Now he knew he wouldn't be able to look Quynn in the eye when she returned. Why had he done something so stupid? Where was she? He was starting to feel disoriented. "I'm going to have to excuse myself."

"Again?" His father raised a brow.

Amyr looked at Lady Trynity. "Will you give my apologies to Quynn? I really don't feel well."

She smiled and patted his hand. "A little pre-nuptial jitters?"

Amyr didn't respond as he left his place. Taeron followed him out of the banquet hall, his hand on the hilt of his imperial sword, which he kept in plain view of the guests. If it weren't for Taeron, Amyr would be dead a few times over by now. No one suspected that Amyr knew the rumors about him or that he might even care. Amyr just couldn't do anything right, not in the eyes of his domineering father, and certainly not in the eyes of the imperial nobility who whispered that he was the bastard of Prince Dilan. Everyone would be happier if he were killed because then the emperor could choose a different successor. No one questioned the paternity of his brother. Staefyn was a few years younger, and he didn't have any of the vices for which Amyr was vilified. If anything happened to him, Amyr knew there would be celebrating in the streets when Staefyn was chosen as his father's successor.

The only person who could look past his stupid mistakes was Quynn. She was so different from any other woman he had known – and Amyr had known far too many, had done things with females that was forbidden to all but a bonded mate. From the first moment he had met Quynn, he had wanted her. When she was near, she was like a flame and he was a helpless moth. That he could not seduce and use her like every other female that crossed his path made the attraction stronger. She was Lord Duo's daughter, and by taking her as his mate, he would strengthen the ties between his father's house and that of his imperial guard. There was no reason why the marriage could not work to everyone's advantage. Amyr would have a bride that would never bore him, his father would be pleased to join their houses and Lord Duo would be happy to keep his daughter in the empire.

During the time she was gone, Amyr feared she would not return or that she would return with the news she had chosen a human mate. He did not want to think about changing his plans. No woman could equal her, and during her absence he had sampled many to find one that could, one that would not challenge him or deny him his need for variety. Sweet, lovable, foolish Quynn. Amyr didn't deserve her love and devotion, but he would spend the rest of his life trying to earn it.

Upon reaching his room, he paced, anxious again about Quynn, and he headed to the door, intent upon going to her room. They had made their oaths and she was his wife. What difference did the bonding ceremony make? He needed her now.

"Where are you going?" Taeron rose and Amyr saw that he had half-drawn his sword. He was the last man who would understand his need. And the first man that would defend the honor of his father's house.

"I wanted some air." The lie was ridiculous and they both knew it.

"If you are not feeling well, I can call for a cup of Lady Trynity's tea," Taeron suggested.

Without waiting for his response, Taeron went to the door and caught a servant to get the tea, but he did not take his eyes from Amyr. Amyr felt hot and he realized that his tunic was sticking to him. He was sick and perhaps the tea would help him. Amyr did not want to go to his mother with his ailment so that she could use her healing Guerani powers on him. She was very powerful and would be able to discover his shame. After her counsel that afternoon to take his vows seriously because he would hurt Quynn if he did not, she would be more than disappointed that only a few hours had elapsed before he was with another woman.

After drinking the tea, his nerves settled and his body cooled. Feeling able to rest, he undressed and laid on top of his bed and Amyr smiled to himself as he realized this was the last night he would sleep alone with Taeron sitting as a guard across the room. Tomorrow night he would be with Quynn, and every night thereafter. The thought was more comforting than he had ever thought possible when he had always grown quickly bored with the females that gave him their bodies to enjoy. He was sure the gods favored their union.

The following morning he awoke much earlier than usual, and at first he wondered if he was just nervous about the marriage vows he would be speaking later in the day when they made the trip to the surface. The anxious feeling had returned and he was glad to see that some of the tea remained from the previous night. After drinking it, he found the ornate tunic that his mother had made for the bonding ceremony. He realized as he dressed that there was unusual activity in the halls. Taeron was already awake, but he had not spoken and he seemed even more taciturn than usual. He looked as if he hadn't slept at all the previous night, and while Taeron had to be wakeful in his duty to guard Amyr, he had never looked this haggard in the morning.

"Didn't you sleep last night?" he asked.

Taeron looked affronted. "I never sleep."

"I won't appreciate it if you fall asleep during the ceremony."

"I don't think there is going to be a bonding ceremony."

Before Amyr could question Taeron further, there was pounding at the door. Taeron pushed past him to open it, and Amyr heard an order for them to report to Lord Duo's office. Now what? He couldn't possibly be reneging on the arrangement! Quynn would be dishonored after the public kiss he had given her! Amyr would do whatever Lord Duo wanted him to so that did not happen.

They walked quickly to the governor's office where Amyr found his parents and Quynn's waiting. Quynn was not with them. When Taeron moved to step out of the room, his father ordered him to stay and close the door.

"We have some disturbing news," Lord Duo began.

"Disturbing news? That is a polite way of putting it!" His father appeared to be angrier than usual. Amyr thought that for once his anger was directed to Duo and not him.

Amyr looked back at the governor. "What is wrong? Where is Quynn?"

"That is a very good question," said Trey. "It seems that she has disappeared along with the hyper-space craft."

"Perhaps she is just testing it," suggested Amyr. He shifted uncomfortably as the tea threatened to resurface.

"Quynn isn't that frivolous," said Trynity. She went to Amyr and took his hands. "I think she must have gotten a case of cold feet."

"Cold feet?" Amyr wondered what the lack of adequate footwear had to do with her taking the spacecraft and leaving him.

"It's an expression from Earth," his father informed him. "In plain Calabrian language, she thought better of her choice to marry you."

Amyr was astounded, and hurt more than he thought he could ever be. "She wouldn't do that to me!" If the tea were not calming him, the panic that it now deadened would shame him.

"I am sure that she loves you," said Trynity. "That is what makes her running away so troubling."

"At first we suspected an abduction, but after questioning those who would have a reason, we learned that no man will have anything to do with her." Lord Duo was glaring at him so Amyr suspected he had heard some very unflattering speculations about his daughter after the kiss he had foolishly given her.

"So we are left with the unpleasant reality that Quynn has run away rather than marry you."

"She'll be back! She promised to marry me." He was finding it hard to breathe and his mother was frowning at him. By the gods, he was not going to let her touch him, to find out how upsetting this was to him. She would find out more than he wished.

"I don't think she's coming back," spoke up Taeron.

Amyr turned to look at him along with everyone else.

"Do you know something, son?" asked Lord Duo.

Taeron glanced briefly at Amyr, then looked back at his father. "I think she discovered something last night that she could not accept."

Amyr felt a frisson of fear race down his spine.

"I don't suppose you will enlighten us about her discovery." Emperor Trey folded his arms over his chest.

The expression on Taeron's face was impassive. "She must have followed my lord prince out of the banquet hall last night."

Amyr couldn't breathe. Quynn had followed him? He looked quickly at Taeron, but his guard didn't return his gaze.

Trey took a step toward Amyr, his eyes blazing with anger. "And what did Quynn see when she followed my son from the hall?" When Taeron didn't respond, Amyr's father did not even pause in raising his hand and bringing it across his cheek so hard that Amyr stumbled back. His mother gasped and reached for him, but her husband swung out his arm to stop her. Amyr felt tears pricking his eyes that his father would strike him with his hand.

When Lord Duo took a step toward him, Taeron stepped between them. "I am sorry, father, but I still have to protect my lord prince, even from you."

"I knew I couldn't trust you." Duo's furious, disgusted gaze hurt Amyr more than the blow his father had given him because Amyr felt closer to his father's imperial guard than he did to the emperor.

Trey grabbed handfuls of Amyr's tunic and jerked him up, tearing the fine fabric. His mother put a hand on his arm and Amyr was glad because he could feel the anger in his father that he was about to use against him and his mother was calming him. Amyr also realized he could read his father's thoughts as he now touched him. He was furious, hurt, disappointed. And he was deeply shamed that his son had hurt the daughter of his dearest friend. Any other time, Amyr would have been excited to learn that he had come into his Guerani power, but now he felt only the pain he had given everyone by the foolish surrender to his worst urges.

"You have dishonored both of our houses!" Trey let him drop and stepped back. "Why am I not surprised?"

Amyr looked away. "I am sorry." The words seemed woefully inadequate.

"I am less concerned about honor and more concerned about Quynn," said Trynity. "We have no idea of where she has gone and no way of finding out for several months if she has returned to the solar system."

Trey snorted. "She's your daughter through and through, isn't she?"

"Give it a rest!" snapped Lady Trynity.

"Enough!" Lord Duo's voice was furious. "I am sure that Quynn won't do anything rash. She'll come back when she has cooled down and realizes that she has not reacted maturely to this ugly business."

"I will go after her," offered Amyr. He had to beg her forgiveness. Even if she couldn't forgive him, he owed her an apology. Amyr knew he didn't deserve her, he never had. He had hoped that the bonding would put an end to the urges he had for other females. Amyr did not want to hurt Quynn. She was his salvation.

"You are not going anywhere," ordered Trey. "Until I decide what to do with you, you will remain in your chambers on Calabria begging the gods for forgiveness and understanding. I hope that they can give it to you because I cannot." He looked past him to Taeron. "Until I say otherwise, you guard him as you would a prisoner. Escort him back to Calabria."

This time Amyr followed Taeron from the room, and neither of them spoke, at least not until they were on the imperial Calabrian transport on their way back to the planet.

After keying in the navigation instructions for the routine trip to the surface in the small shuttle, Taeron took the seat beside Amyr. He kept his gaze straight ahead, staring at the viewer, closing his eyes when the shuttle took off. Amyr could see that he was nervous by the moisture on his brow. The man was perfect except that he had difficulty making space flights and Amyr often teased him about it, but now he was not in a teasing mood.

"Did you see her follow me?" he asked when the craft had cleared the atmosphere of Ulfynaeus and was headed towards the planet. The trip was short, little more than an hour, but it as an hour of misery for Taeron. Now it was an hour of misery for Amyr.

Taeron didn't look at him. "I saw her come out of the kitchen."

"You didn't stop her?"

His lashes lowered a bit as he said, "I made sure she found you."

Amyr wanted to lash out at him, but he knew that Taeron wasn't responsible for his present problems. If he hadn't been with Haedya in the first place, he wouldn't be in this mess. "Maybe you should have warned me."

Now Taeron turned to look at him, blue fire in the depths of his indigo gaze. "You made it quite clear to me, my lord prince, that I was not to interrupt your pleasures."

"Bastard!"

Before Amyr could swing his arm to land the punch that he would enjoy delivering to his self-righteous imperial guard, Taeron caught his fist in his hand and delivered his own blow to Amyr's face. The first blow stunned him, but Taeron struck him again, then again, and when he fell, he kicked him so hard in the ribs that the breath left him.

Taeron jerked him back up and spit in his face, then threw him back so hard that Amyr's head banged against the wall and he saw bright light before everything became black as his body sliding to the floor.


	5. Chapter 5 Disgraced prince

**Chapter 5**

Another day locked up with Amyr and Taeron was sure he would lose his mind. Amyr didn't say much to him, but then Taeron ignored him when he did. He had been Amyr's jailer this last week and nothing more which was exactly how he now preferred their relationship. His fury that Amyr had dishonored his father's house, that he had humiliated his sister had not abated. Taeron was also deeply disappointed in Amyr's behavior. A small hope had taken root in him that Quynn might be what Amyr was missing in his life, what he had been searching for in all the females, all the many females that he had used in the last year after his sister had left. But Amyr had taken the love and purity she offered and ground it in filth. He had grown up with Amyr and had trained all his life to earn the right to stay at his side, but Taeron could not ignore the dishonor Amyr had brought to both their houses.

What Amyr had done to his sister was unforgivable when Taeron knew how much she loved him. Taeron had tried to talk her out of marrying Amyr when he suspected that Amyr was using her to earn approval, but he could not violate Amyr's privacy by telling Quynn that the man she loved never slept alone, that he took any female he wanted. Taeron might be guilty of indulging in the females as well, but he had never done with them what a bonded mate should not, what Amyr did regularly with any female that caught his eye. So Taeron did what he had to in order to open Quynn's eyes without betraying Amyr. Quynn would have found him on her own anyway. Taeron could not feel sorry leading her to Amyr, but he now he worried about his sister and wished he would have spoken to her before she left.

Amyr was now sitting on the balcony with a text in his hands, his brow furrowed as he stared at the words. Because he had so much time on his hands, the crown prince was filling it with reading. Was he making up for all the lessons he had skipped in order to pursue the females that went out of their way to distract him from his lessons? Who knew the crown prince could even read? When he wasn't reading, he was sleeping after drinking the healing tea that he seemed to have grown addicted to in the days since arriving on Calabria. Once the emperor released him, Amyr would toss aside the books and the to sniff after and mount anything wearing a skirt. Taeron knew that this serious side of Amyr would not last long.

A soft knock at the door gave Taeron a reason to stop glaring at Amyr. Opening it, he found Staefyn, Amyr's brother waiting in the hall. "Taeron, my lord father wants to see you in his private office."

"Do you know what he wants?" he asked the other man.

As he looked at Amyr's brother, Taeron wondered what had become of their friendship. Taeron had always liked Staefyn. He was only a few months younger and as a consequence they had spent much time together during their childhood. Unfortunately, Taeron concluded he had been just as charmed as everyone else by Amyr, so he had gradually spent more time with him especially when he began his training as imperial guard. He was still on good terms with Staefyn although they had long since stopped sharing any secrets. Amyr's brother had his own interests, reputedly a woman in the Guerani hills that he had met during one of his stays in the mountain palace under construction at the request of his wife and her brother who wished for a residence in the sacred hills. Taeron had yet to meet the woman although Staefyn had told him that she was an imperial and very beautiful, but Staefyn was not ready to bring her to the attention of his father.

"War has broken out between Varoonya and Teralon," he told Taeron who started with surprise. If he had not been babysitting Amyr, he would have known of this development, would probably be preparing for war. "Shamara has come with several transports from Bayman that my father has requested."

"The emperor has committed to fighting?"

Because the emperor's daughter, Chaela, was married to Prince Avar of Teralon, Taeron did not have to wonder which side he would take even though both worlds on the edge of the frontier were allies of the Calabrian empire. Taeron knew that the imperial troops would enjoy bloodying their swords, and after recent events, Taeron would jump at the chance to work out his frustration on the soldiers of Varoonya.

Taeron knew little about Varoonya, a world at the very edge of the frontier. The ruling Varoonyan prince had presented himself for consideration for one of Trey's daughters, and while he seemed pleasant and the females seemed attracted to him, Taeron had not particularly liked either Prince Rangyar nor his companion, Lord Kai. So he was not surprised, after Avar had taken Chaela and Dagan had taken Shamara, that Prince Rangyar had decided to retaliate against Teralon. Both worlds were far enough away for the emperor to find it difficult to send help quickly to his daughter's world.

"I am sure father will tell us his intention. Come quickly. His temper is short these days."

The emperor had many reasons for his short temper when his daughter's safety was threatened on a far world, his crown prince was disgraced and his relationship with his dearest friend, his imperial guard was strained. If that were not enough to give him a headache, Lord Duo was a popular man, on both moons as well as the surface and that Amyr had dishonored his house had caused no small amount of discontent among the imperial nobility. Amyr's marriage to Quynn might have improved the opinion of him, but the debacle had caused more dissention than the marriage would have been worth to a man like Amyr.

"Taeron, my father wants you to bring Amyr as well." Staefyn added without even a glance at his brother before turning on his heel and leaving.

Amyr set aside the book, and Taeron saw pictures of plants and realized what he was reading. "You are reading the book written by my step-mother," he commented. Why would Amyr be doing such a thing?

Amyr shrugged. "The tea that she has cultivated on Ulfynaeus is a wondrous medicine, so I was curious about her discoveries. Lady Trynity has thoroughly researched the flora on Ulfynaeus and its effects on Calabrian and human physiology, and because of her work, the lives of many have been improved. The tea is one of many herbs that she has crossbred to fill a need."

Taeron often saw her drink the tea in the morning and remark to her husband that it was as close to a good cup of coffee that she was going to get in the binary system. He remembered her drinking coffee during his visit to the human solar system, and now her tea had become popular among the imperial nobility.

That Amyr would even be remotely interested in the treatise enough to attempt to read almost made Taeron burst into laughter. Taeron could not trust Amyr's motives when insincerity was the only skill he had honed in all the time that he had known him. Nor did he want to discuss his sudden interest in healing because he didn't want to hear his lies.

Nodding to the door, he waited for Amyr to leave, then he followed him. They encountered few people in the corridors, and those they did turned their backs on the crown prince, but Taeron was watchful for any threat to him. Despite his own ambivalent feelings for the man, Taeron would protect him with his life.

The emperor was looking out the window, watching his family in the garden when they entered the room. Shamara rose from her seat and went to hug Taeron. He was amused to see that she was expecting another baby, but then he suspected she would be as fruitful as her mother. She had already given King Dagan a son.

"Taeron, it is good to see you! I was hoping to hear that you had found yourself a wife."

Taeron smiled at her. He had spent many months acting as her imperial guard and he had grown close to her. The first princess deserved the happiness she had found with Prince Dagan of Bayman. "I have not been at liberty to seek a mate," he told her. Sharing his life with a female could not be further from his mind at the moment. His duties to Amyr would not end with his marriage as they had with Shamara. Taeron would find it too difficult to devote the time and energy needed to protect Amyr if he also had to be responsible for a female and, gods forbid, children of his own.

She sighed and hooked her arm around his. "I know of some very lovely women on Bayman who would leap at the chance to be your wife."

"I am not interested at this time." When Amyr was settled, then he might seek to begin his own house. He knew it would be expected of him although thoughts of doing so made him feel like he was in a space shuttle spinning out of control.

The emperor turned his attention to Taeron. "It is not too early to consider taking a wife. There are many imperials that have approached both your father and me to offer their daughters for your consideration." He frowned when he noticed that Staefyn had not stayed. "I was going to mention that the Queen of Teralon has two daughters as well, although I have not had communication with her, and her consort, Balak, has not been receptive to making further ties with Calabria beyond his son's marriage to my daughter. But I see that Staefyn must have anticipated this discussion and fled."

"Will you expect me to marry a princess of Teralon?" asked Amyr. He had been standing aside watching his sister greet his bodyguard while she hadn't even acknowledged his presence. Staefyn had not spoken to him either before leaving.

His father didn't look at him. "You have made an oath to Quynn."

"She's not going to return," predicted Amyr.

"Then you won't be marrying any woman!"

Taeron glanced at Amyr to see his reaction. The crown prince didn't seem surprised. "I wanted you to know that I have no interest in any female except the one to whom I have pledged."

His father did not respond, but by the tick in his cheek, Taeron guessed he was controlling his anger.

"Shamara, you have not heard from Quynn?" Taeron asked his sister.

Amyr looked at her for her answer. Why did he look so eager for news of her when he had no qualms about betraying her with another female? To him they were all the same, even Taeron's sister, females to be used and discarded.

She sadly shook her head. "Bayman radar did track a vessel headed towards Teralon, but it suddenly veered away and headed in the direction of the frontier. Beyond that we do not have tracking satellites."

The frontier was the very edge of known space in the binary system. Varoonya was the planet nearest the frontier, but Teralon was close as well. Beyond Varoonya there were beings stranger than the winged people living on Teralon and the red-eyed Varoonyans. Taeron remembered hearing Apolo tell his father and his wife that during his excavations in the Guerani hills, he had found some ancient writings that indicated the parasitic creatures that they had once worshiped as gods had come from beyond the frontier.

"Could she have gone back to the human solar system?" asked Amyr, his voice anxious, and Taeron narrowed his gaze on him. He could not possibly be suffering from guilt! If he had not been confined to his chambers, Amyr would have exhausted himself on countless other females by now.

Shamara turned her attention to him. "What does it matter to you where she has gone?" Taeron wasn't surprised that she vented her anger on her younger sibling. The two had often clashed as children. "You humiliated her! Quynn is a proud woman and you have broken her heart! We must pray now that she is not in danger because of your idiotic, selfish behavior."

"We are not here to discuss Amyr's stupidity, because that matter has been settled conclusively." Trey looked at his son. "This is your last chance to redeem yourself, Amyr. The news that we received from Teralon is old; they have been occupied for many weeks and I am sending you to Teralon with the troops we are providing to liberate the planet. If you screw up this time, it will mean your life." The emperor looked at Taeron. "You will go with him."

"I do not need Taeron!" blurted out Amyr.

Trey glared at him. "Of course you need him! Without him you would be dead with a blade in your back the moment you leave Calabrian space, probably even before you leave the planet. Taeron will protect you as he has sworn to do."

"Taeron's presence will interfere with my command!" Amyr was clenching his fists at his side. "Please, father…"

"I speak to you as your emperor, not your father!" roared Trey. "You have shamed me and caused heartache to my own beloved imperial guard."

Amyr's shoulders slumped and he took a step back. "I am sorry that I have offended you." He looked away from his father. "I am even more sorry for what I have done to my other father." Because Amyr had spent much of his young life under the protection of Taeron's father, he often referred to Lord Duo as father, but now Taeron wanted to strike him for doing so. Lord Duo would never want one such as the man Amyr had become to be connected to his house.

"You have offended everyone, Amyr. I should not have named you my successor until you had earned the right."

"Perhaps you should strip me of the title and give it to Staefyn."

Trey sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I won't do that, Amyr." There was pain in his eyes as he looked at his son now. "Despite what you have done, I still love you and I pray to the gods that you will prove yourself on Teralon. I see that you regret what you have done. Unfortunately, we may not know for many months how this has affected Quynn. We will pray to the gods that she has gone back to Earth or the colonies, and she may one day allow you to beg for her forgiveness. In the meantime, you have duties."

"How can I prove myself worthy when my men will look to Taeron for leadership?"

Sighing, Trey turned around to look out the window again at his family in the garden. "You chose your path long ago, Amyr, and now you must find your own way."

Dismissed, Amyr turned around and walked out.

Taeron was about to follow him, but the emperor stopped him.

"Taeron, please protect him. I love my son."

Taeron met his gaze and he could see the sorrow in their dark green depths. His own heart ached for the man that Taeron had always considered his own second father, his first father in the many years that his own had not acknowledged him. "I would give my life for him."

Trey smiled sadly. "And if you do, I would never be able to ask forgiveness of your father." Then he sighed. "Try to discourage the men from looking to you for leadership. Amyr may have neglected his training, but I know in my heart that he will not fail if he is given a chance."

Taeron hoped he was right. "I will do what I can, my lord."

"Staefyn recently returned from Teralon," Shamara commented.

"I thought he was feeling useless here," said Trey with a sigh. "So I allowed him to go on a diplomatic mission to both Varoonya and Teralon."

"And now they are at war?" Shamara raised a brow. "I hardly consider that a successful mission."

Trey shook his head. "I sent Staefyn to Varoonya on my behalf to smooth over our relations with them after Prince Rangyar was rejected by my daughters. I knew that Rangyar had a sister, Cydeara, so I hoped that Staefyn would consider her, but by the time he arrived there, she was already married. His visit had nothing to do with the hostilities between Teralon and Varoonya. Those two worlds have fought many times, so I am not surprised that Rangyar would use Avar's marriage to Chaela as an excuse to attack."

"I am glad that Staefyn made it back before war broke out," Taeron said. He would not say aloud that Staefyn was more capable of leading warriors than Amyr, that Amyr had never satisfactorily completed his imperial training to receive his sword. Even Amyr's twelve year old sister, Ginaese was probably more skilled than Amyr.

"I don't need to be Guerani to know what you are thinking, Taeron," the emperor said. "Staefyn has already asked to accompany the warriors and I have refused. I cannot risk another of my sons. If they should both fall in battle, I will have only Caedriq and he has only just begun to walk. More than one warlord would view an unstable succession as an excuse to attempt a rebellion, especially when many warriors are off world."

Taeron knew the emperor was right. Until Amyr had come of age, there had been many rebellions by minor houses, and were it not for the loyalty of the greater houses, especially house Caron in the south, the emperor might have lost control of his warlords.

"Enough talk of war for the moment." The emperor smiled at Taeron. "Shall we discuss those imperial females? House Caron has a lovely female that I am sure they can be coaxed to stop hiding in their southern holdings to make a house with you. And I believe both house Chasek and house Vaan have females that are nearly old enough to wed. Perhaps by the time you are ready, they will not be old women."

Taeron blinked in disbelief. The houses he spoke of were among the most powerful of Calabria and to be offered females from them was an honor he could not have imagined given the circumstances of his birth.

"Really father!" Shamara curled her arm around Taeron's. "I believe I have dibs on Taeron. He made quite an impression on the women at Dagan's court when he visited last year."

Trey chuckled. "It was worth a try. I had been hoping that Staefyn would be interested in a Teralonian princess, but he barely remarked upon them when he returned from his visit, so I believe the rumors that he has his heart set on some female in the hills."

"Marrying a princess of Teralon would be a great honor for him," Shamara remarked.

"I would appreciate a greater tie with Teralon since it is close to the frontier," agreed her father. "I fear this female in the hills is a clanswoman whose people have been hiding from imperial patrols and I hope he realizes that only rebels and criminals hide in the hills." Sighing, he glanced at Taeron. "For you, I would recommend house Caron. Caron provided many warriors for my father, and his son, Renaeld continues to do so. You will take many house Caron warriors to Teralon, so wedding the female of that house would be a prudent choice."

Listening to them plan his life made Taeron anxious, but before they decided upon the exact number and gender of his offspring, he thought he should remind him that he wasn't ready to marry. "Perhaps after I have returned from my duty on Teralon, I will consider taking a mate." By then he will have found a reason not to take a wife until he was ready and he doubted he would feel ready for a very long time.

"I will discuss the matter with your father," the emperor concluded. Praise the gods he had not said he would discuss it with his mother, but he worried when he saw the smile Trey was giving him. Taeron would be surprised if his mother did not have his marriage ceremonies planned to the least detail when he next saw her.

Shamara ushered him out after hugging her father and promising to return later to visit with her family. "I think papa wants to see you wed to make up for the disaster on Ulfynaeus."

"He was not pleased that Amyr and Quynn wished to marry," he told Shamara. "They argued many times before your father gave in and allowed him to approach my father."

Shamara sighed regretfully. "I had hoped that Amyr could curb his impulses, but they seemed to have gotten worse." She looked up at him. "I know you are angry about what happened with your sister, so continuing in your position must be difficult for you."

Taeron looked down at their linked hands. She already knew from the magic of her touch how he felt, the anger, and especially the guilt for the role he played. "I took out a little of my frustration already." His knuckles had hurt following the beating since he had never used them in such a manner.

"Amyr doesn't seem any worse for the experience," said Amyr's sister as she brushed her thumbs over his knuckles and he felt the unnecessary healing magic.

Taeron smiled in thanks. "He claimed to have been injured during turbulence on the return trip. No one questioned him."

"How noble of him! I'm surprised he didn't jump at the chance to see you punished."

Taeron was not surprised. On the one hand, Amyr wouldn't want to admit that his bodyguard had beaten him and on the other, no one would give a damn if he did. Not a single person believed his story of the events that caused his bruising, but Taeron told the emperor the truth. Taeron couldn't lie, and he wouldn't be a party to covering up Amyr's weaknesses. Trey offered him time away from Amyr so that he could get his feelings under control, but Taeron had refused. He had trained his whole life to be Amyr's imperial guard and he wasn't going to let Amyr's foolishness ruin his own future.

Maybe if he weren't so unbending, Quynn and Amyr might be happily married now.

Maybe he had misjudged Amyr's feelings for Quynn.

Maybe Quynn had been the answer to his problems.

"Stop trying to solve Amyr's problems," Shamara interrupted his thoughts with a squeeze to his hands that she was still holding. "That was always your problem when you were my imperial guard. Amyr will make his own mistakes and you can do nothing to stop him."

Taeron sighed. "If I hadn't let Quynn see me that night, she may not have come into the garden."

"If Amyr hadn't been with that woman there wouldn't have been anything to see," Shamara reminded him. "Besides, how do you know that Amyr wouldn't have betrayed Quynn again after they shared the bonding cup? Dagan did not bond to me and Apolo has not bonded to your mother, so it seems Guerani cannot bond. Despite his lack of powers, he still has my mother's blood, so the bonding may not have curbed his insatiable need for females. You can't know what would have happened after the ceremony! Neither could she and neither could he! I know my brother. It would take a miracle to change him."

"Maybe I denied him of that miracle."

"The miracle of love?" Shamara snorted. "Taeron, if you had ever been in love you would know that what Amyr felt for Quynn certainly wasn't love it if he was willing to chase the first twitching skirt into a dark garden."

Taeron knew that she was right. Despite all the opportunities that presented themselves, the emperor had never strayed from his wife. And Taeron had always had difficulty believing that Lord Duo was his father when he had never seen the man show interest in any woman until he was reunited with Lady Trynity. Taeron was often embarrassed to imagine the effort his mother must have made to land him in her bed when his father was so obviously in love with the woman he subsequently married.

"Well, I haven't visited with my mother, and I am sure she is spoiling my son." Shamara kissed Taeron's cheeks. "I know that you will take good care of Amyr."

Taeron nodded. "I would give my life to protect him." Was he repeating his imperial vow to remind himself of his obligation?

Returning to the room, he passed a pretty serving woman in the corridor who was frowning, but seeing him, she darted out her tongue and moistened her lips before giving him a smile that told him that she was available for whatever he needed. With a glance at the door she had just exited, Taeron was disgusted and ignored her. When they were younger, Taeron rarely turned down the females that passed from Amyr to him, but now he was revolted by the idea.

Inside the room he expected to find Amyr dozing after the departure of the female, but Amyr was standing at the small table near the window trying to prepare tea. His hands were shaking and Taeron could see that he was perspiring so much that his clothing was soaked. He could see that he had vomited in the basin.

"You are ill," Taeron pointed out as he took the water and packet of herbs the servant must have left.

Amyr looked at him. "Is it possible to be sickened by shame?"

Taeron would have laughed, but Amyr seemed to be tortured by the thought. "Is that what you are feeling?"

He laughed nervously and ran a hand through his dark, damp hair. "I suppose I sound foolish. But I have felt this way since … since that night." "Do you seek my sympathy, because I have none for you, Amyr." Taeron handed him the cup of tea he had prepared. "But I know this, that my father spent many years with the illness of guilt eating his insides. Shamara was able to ease the pain. Shall I ask her to aid you?"

Amyr drained the cup of tea. "No, I would not ask her to harm herself by healing me."

"I have heard that she has become very strong in her healing. Even Apolo has grown in strength so that healing rarely affects him." Taeron smiled as he remembered Apolo explaining that Larya's presence in his life had made it possible for him to reach his full potential as a Guerani healer. Few people would believe that Taeron's mother could have a positive effect on anyone's life. Taeron adored his mother, but he was not blind to her faults.

Amyr set aside the cup and taking the book he had been reading before the emperor's summons, he returned to his place on the balcony overlooking the Guerani Hills far off in the distance. Taeron wondered again what reason Amyr had to be reading that particular book.

After several moments of silence, Amyr asked without looking up, "Did my…did the emperor tell you when we are to leave?"

"I am sure we will learn the details once he has gathered the warriors. He did not say so, but I am sure that he is worried about Chaela."

"Am I free to leave my room?" asked Amyr expectantly.

After receiving orders concerning Teralon, he probably hoped that he would be given his freedom. No doubt the lack of female stimulation was bothering the prince who seemed to thrive on the attention of any female nearby. Taeron took delight in telling him that his father hadn't given any alternate orders about his incarceration, so Amyr fell silent and turned his full attention on the book although he glanced thoughtfully at the hills from time to time.

Taeron went to his mat on the floor near the wall facing the end of Amyr's bed and sat cross-legged, his hand on the hilt of his long sword. He closed his eyes and was on the verge of entering a relaxing meditation when he sensed Amyr leaving the balcony and he was annoyed when Amyr's voice disturbed him.

"Why do you sit on the floor like a faithful dog?"

Taeron didn't want to look at him, but he opened his eyes and saw that Amyr had moved away from the window and was standing nearby.

"I have trained to be your guard. This is my place."

Amyr smiled. "You are trained to protect me, and yet whilst you sat taking a nap, anyone could have crept past you to slit my throat."

Taeron did not argue with Amyr who had avoided his own training so much that he did not realize how ridiculous his words were to a trained imperial guard. He hadn't been sleeping, and Amyr had made enough noise for a novice imperial trainee to hear him. Even his younger sister could have twisted him into a knot by now.

"Your skills are in want of practice, Taeron. Maybe we should take a turn in the practice yard."

Because he hadn't been able to train for at least a week, the suggestion appealed to Taeron. He was more comfortable swinging his sword than sitting in a room playing nursemaid to Amyr while he read books. But then he remembered that females, both servants and imperials, enjoyed watching the men at combat in the practice yard that was enclosed with high walls and ringed by balconies for the instructors to watch the progress. Amyr had attracted more than his share of such women in the past. On too many occasions to remember, Taeron had been left to practice his moves alone while Amyr pursued those females.

"You know you want to," goaded Amyr. "Why resist?"

Hearing the eagerness in Amyr's voice was enough to quash his own desire for activity. Nothing disgusted him more than the prospect of the man who had dishonored his sister preening before the females that would vie to take her place. "We will remain here until the emperor orders otherwise."

With a sound of disgust, Amyr turned on his heel and walked away. Swiping up the book he had set aside, he dropped back down on the bench on the balcony and pulled it open. Taeron knew that Amyr hadn't wanted to get out for anyone's sake but his own. Despite his disgrace, he was completely willing to seek more. Now that Amyr was promised to Quynn, he was completely free to dally where he wanted without the fear that he might seduce the wrong woman and be forced to marry her. That his behavior would be dishonorable was nothing new for Amyr who did not seem to care. Now he would attract the experienced females who had been held at bay previously by the innocent and not-so-innocent imperial daughters who vied for the honor of becoming the wife of the crowned prince. If he thought Amyr was that devious, Taeron might think he had planned to use Quynn in such a manner. The very idea made him want to pummel Amyr again.

A few more days passed during which time Amyr became more restless and only the tea made him bearable. Since Taeron's father had remarked that without it his wife was a vicious hillcat in the morning, Taeron made sure that Amyr had a steady supply.

Once Amyr had even challenged Taeron to friendly combat within the confines of the room, but Taeron didn't trust himself to keep control of his anger once their swords crossed. If Taeron did not get out of the room soon, he would lose his mind and the only thing that kept him sane was the fact that they would soon prepare to head for Teralon where he could take out his frustration on the Varoonyan forces.

Amyr had finished his book, and once while he was in his bathing chamber, Taeron had looked at the book to see if he could determine why Amyr had taken an interest in healing. There were several pages marked by bent corners and one passage in particular about the healing properties of a tea made with leaves from a rare plant on Ulfynaeus, a plant that Lady Trynity had used in creating the tea. Taeron didn't understand most of what he tried to read and wondered if he should have spent more time with books. He would not question Amyr about it because he would only lie, but he intended to solve the mystery.

Perhaps Stryfe could help him when he was not busy with his duties. His human brother was very intelligent and had already gained the trust of the emperor. Since his duty for the Cinq Kingdom came to an end, Stryfe had been given the office of imperial scribe. Stryfe was fluent in many languages and learned others very quickly. Taeron was amazed that he never forgot anything, not even the slightest detail. In this duties as scribe he researched what he could learn of Calabrian history for the emperor, and he recorded diligently the events he witnessed. Taeron was proud of his brother's accomplishments. Stryfe might be able to see something in the book that would tell them why Amyr had studied it.

Word finally came through Staefyn again that Amyr could be released to train with the imperial warriors headed for Teralon. Amyr all but bolted from the room after receiving the news. Taeron was surprised that the crowned prince ignored the women they passed in the hall when even he had trouble of his own keeping his eyes off the females who would eagerly offer themselves. Perhaps the emperor was right and that he should consider taking a wife, but even that thought made his heart pound and his palms grow moist. He could not imagine sharing his life with a female, certainly not any that he had met and not any of the faceless women that the emperor or Shamara would suggest. His life belonged to Amyr and Taeron was content with that future.

"I can't always hide in your shadow," Amyr told Taeron, drawing his attention away from a fair-haired woman whose gown was clinging in the right places. The look in her eyes told him that she was well-versed in pleasing an unbonded male, and since she traveled without a male escort, she would seek nothing but an enjoyable afternoon.

"Let me train with the men alone to prove myself." Amyr's voice sounded as if it came from far away when Taeron's thoughts were entangled in that female's offering.

But he quickly looked away from her although she was sauntering away slowly enough to give him time to catch up. "I have made a vow to protect you. I am certainly not going to allow you to train alone with hundreds of armed men, many of them who have wives, daughters and probably even mothers that can claim to know you intimately." He didn't bother adding the word 'sisters.'

Amyr didn't grin as he would in the past. "You count yourself among them, Taeron. Should I feel safe with you protecting my back?"

Taeron was so insulted by his implication that he put his hand on his sword and half drew it. Amyr's eyes had widened as his gaze dropped to the blade he had revealed. But Taeron shoved it back out of sight when he was sure Amyr understood the depth of his insult. "Guard your tongue! I do not wish to raise my sword to you because I doubt that would garner you any respect among the men."

"You certainly aren't against raising your fist." Amyr rubbed his jaw, then turned away. "You realize that I can never redeem myself with the men while you are with me."

"Neither of us has a choice in the matter."

Amyr sighed. "Then my appointment is doomed to failure."

Taeron might have felt guilty if Amyr had taken his duties seriously in the past, but he had forsaken the opportunities to train with the imperial warriors of Calabria so that he could be seduced by women who were not worthy of the crown prince.

The following weeks training with the army tested the patience of many men. Almost immediately the captains appointed by the warlords who had sent men to fight for the emperor went to Trey to demand that Taeron be placed in command. They hadn't even given Amyr a chance, but they could hardly be blamed for their distrust. Amyr had not once proven himself to anyone but the females. After Trey refused, the men resorted to a more direct approach to removing Amyr. By the end of the first week, four men had been executed for attempting to assassinate the crown prince. A more subtle method was employed during the following week when one of the men - Taeron never knew who employed him - offered Taeron a fortune to remove Amyr during melee practice, a drill that simulated actual battlefield conditions. A cohort had apparently decided that he was sufficiently insulted by what had happened to his sister that a generous offer of imperial credits would push him over the edge and remove the blight to his father's house. But Taeron left the answer to his proposal in the form of the man's body lying on the field after the melee. He was not approached again.

They had little time to train, and no more time for dissenters to oust Amyr from his position, so he had been given a grudging acceptance of the men, albeit at the point of Taeron's sword. Both of them knew without speaking of it that the men would not challenge Taeron when they wanted him to command them, so they were forced to acknowledge Amyr.

News came from Teralon that the Varoonyans were merciless in their attacks on Teralon, and the prisoners they took, they shipped off world to sell as slaves in the frontier worlds. The fate of those poor wretches would never be known, and it was common knowledge that beings on other distant planets bought slaves as if they were cattle to be slaughtered and devoured, that there were beings that fed from the flesh of sentient beings. Trey was anxious that his daughter, Chaela, whose husband was the son of the Queen Neria of Teralon, not be captured, so he gave the order to leave for Teralon. The men were glad to see an end to their training and the beginning of action. Taeron was somewhat surprised that Amyr seemed eager to fight as well.

Before leaving on the transport, Amyr waited anxiously for his family to bid him farewell, but no one came to see him off. Taeron knew that Trey wouldn't acknowledge his son until he had found a way to cleanse the dishonor from his name. Taeron could sense that Amyr was disheartened by the censure of his family, but he said nothing to Taeron about his feelings. His slumping shoulders told his imperial guard his thoughts more than any words could. The arrogant crown prince had learned his first lesson in humility.


	6. Chapter 6 Off to war

**Chapter 6**

Their first stop for supplies was on the moon, Dagmaeus. While Taeron's mother, the governor, greeted him effusively, her husband barely acknowledged Amyr's presence. Although he was the son of his sister. Apolo greeted him as if he were a visiting stranger, and at first Amyr seemed upset - after all his behavior with the females was compared frequently to that of his uncle. In his youth Apolo had spread himself thin with his charm, but after Trey's ascendancy to emperor, Apolo had not taken advantage of his position. He had, in fact, served as an example for Trey's new laws regarding the treatment of females. He had saved many from certain death by rescuing imperial female infants left in the Wastelands by houses that were slow to accept the emperor's edict against the practice. On the other hand, Amyr had denied himself no female he wanted and there wasn't a single one that would refuse the crown prince.

Apolo and Amyr left Taeron alone with his mother, although it was apparent that Apolo did not wish to have any private conversation with his nephew. Having cared for Quynn after she had been tortured in the human system by another man, Apolo was appalled by Amyr's insincere treatment of her. He knew that she had been vulnerable when she first met Amyr and Taeron could feel the anger simmering in Apolo as he thought his sister's son had taken advantage of a female that had been in his care. If Amyr expected any sympathy from Lord Apolo, Taeron knew he would be disappointed.

Once they had gone, Lady Larya pushed Taeron down on an elegant, high-backed padded bench and ordered a serving woman to bring refreshment. When he had a cup of cool sweet juice and food before him, she sat beside him. "I will worry about you every moment that you are away at this horrible war."

"You don't have to worry about me, mother."

She brushed back the hair from his face and he wondered if she still saw him as a fatherless little boy who would weep on her bosom after behind taunted that no man had taken him into his house. "I can't help myself. I love you, Taeron, and I will not be able to sleep well knowing that you could be in mortal danger."

"I have been in mortal danger since I became Amyr's guard," he remarked wryly.

She frowned. "I know, and I have heard of your more recent troubles. I do not envy Trey for the son he has sired."

Taeron turned to look at her and he hated bringing up her past, but he was not deaf to the whispers of the men looking for any excuse to justify scorning Amyr. "Mother, you helped Prince Dilan take Lady Arora from Prince Trey. Is it possible that Prince Dilan sired Amyr?"

His mother was open about her dark past and did not hide in shame from what she had done as a slave to Emperor Zeno's courtesan. Now Larya's white brows raised. "Why would you ask such a thing? Does it matter? Trey has acknowledged Amyr as his son. How can you dishonor him by questioning what he has decreed?"

"You haven't answered my question."

"I haven't answered your question because I think it is ridiculous! I grant you that Arora was never taught to control her ability to make children, if such a thing is even possible among the Guerani, but I assure you that Dilan did not have the opportunity to mate with her. Dax's bastard wanted her desperately and could not even mate with another female, so once he had her in his possession, he tried to force himself on her in the Wastelands, even with his own men watching."

Taeron was disgusted to hear that a man had treated Lady Arora so brutally. Violating a female was the most abhorrent of crimes, even during the time of Zeno.

His mother continued. "She fought him like a wild hillcat until he threatened the life of her babe, but before he could take advantage of his power over her, Lord Wattan, Zeno's imperial guard arrived to prevent him. The silly girl had given him her imperial bond before leaving to escort the Bayman princess and he had grown mad with need for her. When Dax found out what Arora had done, he was infuriated. He had wanted Arora to mate with Apolo and he did not want his Calabrian bastard interfering."

"If there were witnesses to the contrary, why do imperials still challenge Amyr's rights?"

"When she was brought to Lady Xuxa's apartments upon her capture, he tried to mate her again, but I was there to testify that once again he was thwarted because Zeno summoned that odious pack of bastards to his presence before he could. I will never forget that day because I was finally released from that monster, Lady Xuxa. Zeno should have taken her head, but he sent her back to her people in disgrace and her brother refused to take her back. I should have gone to look for her and cut her throat. She was an evil woman."

Taeron could see that she was agitated by the conversation,and he knew it was because Lady Xuxa had not been a benevolent master. Captured from a Wasteland clan as a small child, she had come into Lady Xuxa's hands as a slave and the foul woman trained her to serve the needs of the most despicable men in Calabria. With her white hair and light eyes the color of the palest thistle flowers in Lady Trynity's garden, she was a mysterious beauty that attracted many males, and Lady Xuxa used her as ruthlessly as any brothel owner would have. Taeron's mother had been alone and afraid after Lady Xuxa's banishment, having been in the abhorrent female's care almost all her life, and blaming Trey and Arora, she had tried to kill them. When that failed, she tried to seduce the emperor in front of his own wife before he finally her banished from Calabria to the pirate satellite between Calabria and Bayman. No one knew more about the vile underbelly of Emperor Zeno's court than Larya.

His mother now sighed. "I can tell you that Dilan fervently wanted her, but he was never able to fulfill the blood bond that had been made between them. Nor was he able to take another female because of that bond and I imagine his death was relief for him."

"I am sorry I asked." Taeron was ashamed that he questioned Amyr's parentage. He also felt a small measure of sympathy for Dilan if he had been bonded by blood to Arora. Taeron had heard that the need the bond created was like a sickness that could only be eased by the female to whom a male had bonded. The emperor himself had suffered it in the years he was separated from his imperial guard, that he had found relief in using mood altering drugs.

"As you said, it does not change my duty to him, one way or the other. I would give my life to keep him safe." He put his hand to his heart, then held open his palm to look at the scar where he had been cut. While he had made a verbal oath to Shamara, they had not cut their hands.

Taking his hand, she raised it to her lips to kiss the scar. "You are the best of me, Taeron."

He drew her into his arms. "I will return, mother."

She was trembling and he knew she was trying not to cry. Larya did not show this side of her to many people. Others saw her as a arrogant female that did not know her place. He kissed the top of her white-haired head and silently thanked the gods for her. Only Larya had the audacity and determination to do what she had to give him life, and while others might call her whore, he could respect and love no woman more than he did her.

"Enough of this sad talk!" She pushed herself away from him and looked up at his face. "Is it true that Trey is making plans for you to marry?"

Taeron shook his head. "Mother, I have not wish to begin my house."

She did not seem to hear him. "Taeron, you are being given a great honor in the females he has suggested. However, I may have some knowledge of the houses proposed, so I will inform Trey that I must be given an opportunity to give my opinion."

His conversation had been private with the emperor, but Taeron guessed that Trey had called his mother to discuss what female was going share his life and could imagine him arguing with Larya about his choices. Taeron often marveled at their friendship after all that she had done to hurt him.

"I am not ready, mother, to take a wife."

"I know that you are strangely frightened of marriage …."

"I am not frightened." He could not believe his mother was all but accusing him of cowardice.

"... and that females are still a great mystery to you..."

"Females are no mystery to me." Thanks to Amyr's castoffs, he had been given as thorough an education as a respectable unbonded male could have.

"... but you must begin your house. I don't know what Trey is thinking by mentioning house Caron, for I had already decided that an imperial from a lesser house might be coaxed into wedding you..."

"I don't need anyone to be coaxed into marrying me." But Taeron knew it was probably true. He might be of Lord Duo's and Lord Apolo's house, but he was still the bastard son of a whore who had tried to kill the emperor.

Free of the restriction of finding a suitable match, Taeron had secretly hoped to find a woman with whom he would fall in love, the kind of love his father shared with his wife and his mother shared with her husband, especially the love the emperor and his wife had for each other. Now he feared he would be trapped into marriage with a female he did not even know.

"Don't have such a long face! I shall insist that your bride be beautiful."

"Beauty means nothing to me," he told her.

She gave him an arch glance, "I'm sure it will mean a little when you try to mate her."

"Mother, I do not wish to have this conversation." Taeron was becoming embarrassed. This was not the first time she had broached the subject and he thought he should stop her before she delved into the more intimate aspects of marital life. Her need to instruct him in his relations with females would only become stronger when he did take a wife, so he intended to put it off indefinitely.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then said to his surprise, "Very well, then I shall send a message to Duo to have this conversation with you. I am not sure what that fool can tell you – he was a gods awful lover – but there must be some reason why a woman like Lady Trynity chose him for a mate."

After leaving Dagmaeus, the imperial armada went to the second moon where they would take on the supplies gathered by the governor and his wife who had prepared healing salves and bandages. In addition, Meridon insisted that men from his clan who were eager to fight should accompany them and since Taeron had great respect for the prowess of his dark clad warriors, he accepted them on Amyr's behalf. The old chieftain had refused to acknowledge Amyr and told Lord Duo that his son, Darlac, would answer only to Taeron.

When they had some time together, Taeron was relieved that his father chose not to do any more than mention the message from Larya which seemed to embarrass him as much as it did Taeron. He was more interested in talking about upcoming battles than the establishment of Taeron's house, perhaps because he knew that Taeron did not feel ready and he respected his decision.

Amyr did not even dare to speak to Duo and stayed out of his sight, but he did go out of his way to seek Lady Trynity on the pretext of discussing her treatise on medicinal herbs. Taeron was suspicious of his motives, but he couldn't think of any improper reason for Amyr's interest. Before leaving Dagmaeus, Taeron had asked Apolo what he had discussed with Amyr, and he told him that Amyr had asked him many questions about his Guerani heritage and the powers that had eluded all of the emperor's children save Shamara. What did Amyr hope to gain? Taeron knew him well enough to suspect that he had an ulterior motive.

The opportunity to speak to Amyr about his strange behavior did not present itself until they were well on their way to Teralon. "You have never taken any interest before in the powers with which you were not blessed by the gods."

Amyr shrugged. "My mother's family is noted through the ages for their healing powers. If I do not have Guerani powers, perhaps I can find a more practical way to heal."

"I don't think the men are expecting their leader to provide the ointments for their aches and pains."

The prince chuckled. "I suppose not, but it would be an added bonus, wouldn't it?"

Once they arrived on Teralon, there was no more time to question Amyr's motives. The Varoonyans were waiting for them, so they were pressed immediately into battle, and because Amyr had never killed a man, he was at first too stunned by the carnage around him to do anything but watch in horror. Seeing that he was unable to give commands, Taeron shouted to the men and rallied them so that they were able to drive off the Varoonyan forces that had attacked after the transports landed in the southern plains only a day's march from the largest city where Chaela lived in the royal palace.

As expected, Taeron received the credit from the men. Amyr did not to show his resentment during the celebrations the night that they had defeated the first wave of Varoonyan forces, but Taeron could feel it. Taeron had not acted to hear the men sing his praises. His only thought during battle was in bolstering the men to fight, to lead by example and help them find the courage and determination when their generation had not had the occasion to fight during the peaceful reign of Emperor Trey.

"You have had your first taste of battle now," Taeron told Amyr as they sat near the fire in the camp over which they shared a meal with the captains of the squadrons.

He could hear the sounds of revelry among the soldiers, the husky laughter of the women who were inevitably drawn to the strong men sent to liberate them. Some of them might entice Calabrian imperials to marry them, but for now they were grateful for their freedom from the Varoonyans. Although no one would question him for finding comfort in the arms of one of them after the harrowing day of fighting, Amyr did not initially seem interested in any of the attractive Teralonian females circulating among the men seated around their campfire offering food or drink.

"Perhaps you are right." Amyr smiled his thanks to one of the females who had handed him an animal skin pouch. He took the stopper out and drank deeply the dark liquid that filled their air with strange fumes. Taeron recognized the odor of spirits.

"Beware, my lord prince, that the sweet nectar does not muddle your head," remarked one of the dark clad warriors sitting beside Taeron. Darlac, Meridon's son, watched Amyr with distrust that Amyr seemed oblivious to.

"This Teralonian nectar is tasty." Amyr pushed the pouch toward Taeron. "Try it."

Taeron shook his head, knowing that just a sip would be too much. "Someone has to have clear judgment on the morrow. The Varoonyans are regrouping and will launch an offensive to keep us from reaching the palace."

Placing a hand on Taeron's shoulder, Amyr looked into his eyes for an uncomfortable moment, then with a rueful shake of his head, he rose to his feet, and Taeron was discouraged to see him beckon to not just one of the females, but two, before disappearing into the tent that he would share with Amyr. Taeron wondered what exactly he should do in the name of his sister's honor as Amyr conveniently forgot again the vow he had made to her. After wrestling with his options, he decided to leave him be. Amyr was a man, after all, and he hadn't been with a woman for many weeks when he had spent the last year pursuing and sampling any female that even glanced at him. Tomorrow there would be another battle and no one could predict the outcome.

While he was waiting for Amyr to finish dallying with the females, Taeron discussed plans with the men for retaking the palace. They had learned from the Teralonian females that the royal family had fled shortly after the attack and remained hidden, and now Varoonyans led by the particularly sadistic warlord were entrenched in the royal palace and city.

Since arriving on Teralon, Taeron had not seen any of the famed winged warriors and wondered about the honor of men that would abandon females to invading forces. Those forces were battle thralls, men who had lost their independent will and existed only at the will of their master, Lord Kai. The thralls had fed from the blood of the females who were grateful to escape the creatures that had invaded their world. The Varoonyan warriors fought like mindless beasts, their eyes red, and when they managed to wound a Calabrian, they leapt upon them with mouths frothing to suck on the wound which seemed to invigorate them. The imperial warriors quickly learned to fight off the creatures to keep them from feeding upon them.

During the discussion around the fire, a beautiful young female approached Taeron and shyly offered him a drink of water although her eyes told him that she was offering far more. Taeron wished he could be like Amyr at moments like this, but he could not take advantage of a helpless female who offered her body because she was grateful for her freedom. Amyr would not think twice about using her for his own pleasure in acts Taeron would not do with any female but the one he chose to bond with. This lovely female might help him while away the night in mutual pleasure, but with the emperor making plans for his future, he would not encourage any females.

He took a cup of water and thanked her formally, making it clear that he had no further interest in anything more she was offering. She did not hide her disappointment by pouting prettily in one last effort to interest him, and when he looked away, she moved on. Soon enough she was trying to attract another man.

"I think Lady Larya would be proud of you, and your father as well," commented Darlac with a chuckle as he watched the female. Taeron knew that Darlac would not take a female because he was bonded and had several young children with his mate.

Taeron drained the cup. "I am proud to be his son."

"Your father's prowess in battle is legendary. Without him, I doubt the emperor could have prevailed against all the threats to his rule. He is the only man to whom my father would give his oath and I gladly give mine to you, Taeron."

Taeron knew that his own father had once regretted deeply the decision that had separated him from the only woman he had ever loved. That regret had become despair as the years passed and he knew he would never be with her. The gods had a hand in all that came to pass, and Lord Duo had been forced to remain on Calabria because it was their will that Trey should reign and he could not have done so without the help of his imperial guard and friend.

"The crown prince has much to learn," continued Darlac. "Trey was every bit as arrogant as his son when he was young, but he had the good sense to delegate to another. Amyr had best learn quickly that a leader is only is as good as his subordinates make him. Zeno ruled with the might of Dax's sword and magic, and his son would not be where he is today without Lords Duo and Apolo. My father might never admit it, but Lady Arora is one of the emperor's finest warriors. One day you will be the sword of the emperor as your father is now. I only hope that Prince Amyr recognizes how important you will be to his reign."

Although he wanted to talk more with Darlac, Taeron was starting to feel tired, and when he saw the two females slip out of the tent at that moment, he excused himself and joined Amyr. His friend was sitting on the sumptuous bedding provided him, his head in his hands, hardly the pose of a man who had just lain in pleasure with two females. His clothing was askew, but he looked pale and distracted, so Taeron guessed he was thinking of the battle. Taeron had fought on Mars Colony and again on the second moon as well as the Guerani Hills during the Camridean insurrection, so he had been blooded already. He could understand how Amyr was feeling at the taking of a life, even if they were enthralled, mindless warriors whose lives were taken long ago by their Varoonyan warlord.

Before he could say a word, Amyr stumbled to the basin and retched, then wiped his mouth with the back of his trembling hand. When he met Taeron's gaze, he could see that he was feeling ill.

"You should not have taken the wine," he scolded Amyr before he was overcome by a yawn. Taeron needed sleep soon or he would not be fit for battle on the morrow.

"Yes, the wine," muttered Amyr. "You look exhausted, Taeron. Take my bed. I need some air."

The words to tell him that he should not be wandering in the camp without him did not pass his lips. His knees suddenly became weak and he would have fallen had Amyr not caught him. He heard Amyr's chuckle. "And I thought you were a god! Did you sample the wine too?"

Taeron could not even respond because he was too exhausted to do anything but sink into the pillows, glad that he would not spend the night on a hard pallet nearby. Although the sleep began as deep and dreamless, something had awakened him, and he raised his head to see the tent flap open and for a moment he thought Prince Staefyn had entered his tent, but he realized it was a trick of the light because when he was able to focus, he saw that Amyr had returned with the females.

The women giggled as they stumbled in the dark, and Taeron tried to move, disgusted that Amyr would bring them in here when he was there, but he suddenly felt Amyr's hands on his shoulders, pushing him back on the pillows and then he reached down to seize his hands before Taeron could react.

"Do not fight it," he whispered and Taeron closed his eyes when the room began to spin around him. He could feel hands on him, pulling at his clothing, the scent of females disorienting him, but he could not react to their touch, and soon he became dizzy and lost consciousness.

Shouts and screams of terror awoke Taeron. Shaking out his groggy, leaden head, he was shocked to find himself entangled in soft limbs. The flap of the tent was thrown back and he had to blink from the light flooding through before he recognized Darlac who was shouting at him to rise. They were being attacked by the Varoonyans. The females scrambled for their clothing, screaming and wailing, and Taeron had difficulty moving to get his own. There was a bitter taste in his mouth. Had he drank the wine? He did not remember doing so, but the taste would not wash out no matter how much water he drank now. How had he come to be in this condition? Was this still part of his dream?

The answer to that question came on the battlefield. Still confused, he had difficulty matching blows with the men who came up against him, but as he fought Taeron gained more and more strength when the haze in which he saw the world cleared away. The Calabrian force had to fall back once, and during the time that they regrouped, Darlac informed Taeron that the prince had either been captured or killed in the first wave.

"You should have been with him instead of indulging yourself in vice," admonished the older man before leaving him alone.

Taeron had no time to wonder how he had come to be with the females or why he had completely ignored Amyr when Amyr's safety was of utmost importance to him. The Varoonyans attacked again, but this time Taeron fought like a man possessed, believing that when they defeated the enemy once and for all, he would find Amyr alive among the prisoners destined for slavery on frontier worlds.

But the fighting lasted for days, and when the Varoonyans withdrew, they torched the lands to aid in their escape, leaving nothing but ashes in their wake. If Amyr's body was among the remains that lay scattered on the battlefield, Taeron didn't think he would ever know until one of the men scouring through scorched terrain as the Varoonyans ships fled overhead came to Taeron to inform that they had found the prince's body.

He did not want to believe that Amyr was dead, refused to believe it until he stood over the charred corpse and recognized the imperial sword with its hilt decorated with gems from the Guerani hills still clutched in its hand. Taeron's heart was broken and he fell to his knees to weep with the sword in his hands.

His dearest friend was dead and he had himself to blame.

He had failed to protect the crown prince.


	7. Chapter 7 Return to Calabria

**Chapter 7**

His sorrow quickly turned to anger, and his only outlet was the Varoonyan army.

While the men probably wouldn't cross the road to save Amyr, they would follow Taeron into the darkest corners of the netherworld to fight, and they did the latter with enthusiasm. After the last of the Varoonyan ships cleared the planet, Taeron was eager to follow, but he first sent word to the palace that he was taking his warriors to Varoonya to avenge the death of their crown prince. Before leaving, Taeron needed to be assured of the well-being of the emperor's daughter and grandchild, so the queen's consort, Balak along with his son, Prince Avar, brought Chaela to them. Holding her infant son close, Chaela wept and clung to Taeron, but he could not spend much time with her if he hoped to keep the Varoonyans from implementing a defensive strategy. Chaela did not blame Taeron even though he richly deserved it, and all he could do to make any sort of amends would be to punish the Varoonyans.

So after the brief meeting to be assured that Chaela had not suffered, Taeron and his men surged onto the transports to chase to the Varoonyans all the way to their home planet. Once there, they found a desolate world where the inhabitants were willing and eager to aid an enemy force that would deliver them from the degradation forced on them by the Varoonyan rulers. The tortured people lived like animals, many incarcerated in pens and cages, and when the Calabrians freed them, they followed their liberators into battle with primitive farming implements and sharpened sticks. His army swelled into a forced that swept over the planet like a tidal wave, rolling over the mindless red-eyed blood thralls who rushed to their deaths at the command of their masters.

Taeron lost track of time as he fought like a man possessed, working himself harder each day so that he could fall on his back and sleep without dreams of his dead prince. But no amount of killing as he wielded the sword of the crown prince could wipe away the guilt he felt for his role in Amyr's death. Despite the victories and the subsequent defeat of the entire Varoonyan army by the forces he led, Taeron could not stop blaming himself for not being there to protect Amyr when he needed him. Not even the final blow that killed Prince Rangyar of Varoonya, freeing many thousands that he had enthralled could ease Taeron's conscience.

At the conclusion of the war, Taeron made the trip back to Calabria where he was mortified to be greeted with cheers in the streets of the imperial city for his victories. Upon reaching the palace, he found the emperor waiting on the landing above the plaza, Lord Duo and Lady Larya on either side of him. Taeron expected to be castigated for returning to Calabria without the crown prince, but he was shocked when Trey conferred upon him the title of warlord. As the people crowding the plaza below the palace cheered ecstatically, Trey put his hand on Taeron's shoulder and told him to come to the private chambers of the imperial family. He then left him with his parents, and after his father hugged him, his mother threw herself against him and as her tears soaked his tunic held her in his arms.

Taeron could not believe the honor he had been given after he had failed Amyr so miserably, and he was bothered that no one remarked upon his failure. As they entered the palace and headed towards the private wing where the emperor lived with his family, Taeron's father told him about the memorial for Amyr that he had missed. Saddened that he had not been on Calabria to join in the sharing of memories of the man he had grown up with and who was like a brother to him, Taeron was further dismayed to learn that Quynn had not returned to Calabria. Nor had she gone back to the human solar system. There were tears in his father's eyes when he spoke of Quynn, especially when he told Taeron that they had held a private memorial for his sister. Taeron blamed himself for her death as well. He had made so many bad choices and two people he loved were gone because of them.

His parents escorted him to the emperor's chambers, but they left him to speak privately with them. Taeron had not had the time to consider how he would face the emperor and his wife, and when he stepped inside the suite in which he had grown up with Amyr and the emperor's other children, he was slammed by grief. Memories of his childhood came back to him from everywhere he looked and his heart ached terribly. All his life he had yearned to be Amyr's imperial guard, to be for Amyr what his father had been to Trey, and he had felt such joy the day he had given Amyr his oath. His duty had been to protect Amyr, a duty that he had performed many times and yet he had shirked that duty at a time when he should have been most diligent.

The emperor and his wife were standing by the window, the emperor's head bent to touch that of his wife. Looking away from their intimate moment, Taeron noticed that their children were not there, not even Staefyn.

Realizing he was there, Trey raised his head and turned to Taeron who moved forward, and trembling with emotion, he dropped to a knee before the emperor. He brought out Amyr's sword to hold up in his hands in offering and when he heard Amyr's mother catch her breath on a sob, tears sprang to his own eyes. Despite his faults, Amyr's parents had loved him, and because of Taeron, they would never see him again.

Taeron bowed his head and raised the sword to the emperor. "I am sorry, my lord, that I have failed you." He could barely say the words, his throat was so tight and he was shaking with the effort not to weep before he could express his shame.

Trey sighed deeply before speaking. "If you had been in the battle that took my son's life, I might accept your apology. Darlac sent a detailed report of what had happened three years ago when my son was killed."

Three years! Surely so much time had not passed! Taeron had no conscious memory of the passing days spent fighting in countless battles, and then the many months of hunting down Varoonyan warlords, of nights that he often fell onto the hard ground to be tortured by nightmares of how Amyr must have died. He could not understand why the gods allowed him to live and had taken the son of their favored emperor.

Trey took the sword from his hand. "I know it must have been difficult to do your duty after what happened with your sister."

"I did not ignore my duties apurpose!" denied Taeron. He was horrified that Trey could believe he would put what happened between Amyr and Quynn before his duty to Calabria. He was distressed that the only father he had known for most of his life would even think it.

"I would never believe such a thing of you, Taeron," Trey said softly. "But the rancor between you and my son had surely affected your relationship."

There was nothing Taeron could say to explain his behavior when he did not even understand it himself. Perhaps the emperor was right and that he had reacted to how Amyr had dishonored his sister without consciously realizing it.

Trey turned to his wife and he placed their son's weapon in her hands, the weapon had once been his own, that he had given to the woman he loved. She had presented it to their son and he had died with it clutched in his hand.

Dropping her gaze to the sword, she suddenly started, and then her amber gaze rose to her husband's face. "Our son has not died ignobly," she said calmly and Taeron wondered if she used her Guerani senses to determine how he had died. Taeron wanted her to tell them more, but he dared not ask. He did not have a right to know.

To his surprise, she held out the sword to Taeron who hesitated before he took it back. "Keep this blade with you, Taeron. You have wielded it well to honor my son."

Taeron did not want to take the sword of the crown prince, but the gift from Amyr's mother was another great honor that he could not refuse. "I will hold the sword to remind me always of what I have failed to do. When you wish to present it to Staefyn, I will return it to you."

He was surprised that Arora gave him a tremulous smile. "Staefyn is not destined to hold this sword, Taeron. One day you will know what to do with it."

After a curious glance at his wife following her cryptic remark, Trey looked back at Taeron. "Visit your families," he suggested. "Then you will return to Varoonya where you will serve as military commander until such time that a government can be formed. Once that has happened, I expect you to honor the agreement I have made with Queen Neria of Teralon."

"Agreement?" Taeron had heard nothing of an agreement that concerned him.

Trey smiled grimly at him. "When Varoonya is put to order, you will to return to Teralon to take her daughter and heir, Princess Dijana, as your wife."

Wife?

"She has requested our finest warlord for her daughter, and there is no doubt in my mind that you are that man."

Taeron could not believe that he was to wed a princess, the heir to Teralon. What could he say? "Yes, my lord." This was yet another honor for an undeserving bastard who had failed in his oath-sworn duty.

Lady Arora put her hand on his cheek and he felt a peace wash over him from her Guerani magic. "You are not at fault for what happened Taeron. The young make mistakes. We have all made them. We grow by learning from them and getting past them and not letting them become obstacles in our lives."

Her words as well as her touch gave him more comfort than he had felt since the moment he had stood over the charred remains of her son.

After making arrangements to leave for Dagmaeus on which he would stay with his mother before going to Ulfynaeus to spend time with his father for several days, Taeron went to visit his brother who was busy in the imperial archive. The room where his brother did his work abutted the storehouse of scrolls that had been written for many centuries by the scribes that had come before him. When he entered the office, he saw that Stryfe was bent over brittle old parchments that his brother explained were Guerani scrolls found in the hills. He was transcribing ancient texts that contained a written record of the magic using people. Lady Arora was very interested in the history of her ancestors and Stryfe divided his time translating them into modern Calabrian and teaching her the ancient tongue of her people. But he was content now to put aside his work to welcome Taeron with a hug.

Although Taeron was sure that Stryfe wanted to hear any details Taeron could tell him about his years at war leading to his elevation in rank, his brother avoided speaking of Teralon and Varoonya. Instead, he told him about their family, of how busy his parents were in raising a couple of rambunctious children that often had his father cursing in exasperation. He also gave him news of Taeron's mother who had not had the time to do more than welcome him home. She would accompany him back to Dagmaeus after the suns were at equal distance. Now Taeron learned that although Lord Apolo had wished to fill his house again with his daughters after raising many infants he had rescued from exposure in the Wastelands, Larya recently gave him a son to join the two daughters they already had and Apolo was extremely proud.

"I have been pressured daily to choose a wife, but I am far too busy to devote time to any one woman." He smiled slyly at Taeron who guessed what amused him. "I understand that you will soon be married to Princess Dijana of Teralon."

"So I am told," grumbled Taeron. He was not ready for a wife either. Since that night on Teralon, females could not be further from his mind. "The emperor expects me to begin my house when I have settled problems on Varoonya."

His mind strayed to Varoonya where he had left Darlac in command when he had been summoned back to Calabria. Rangyar was gone and there were no Varoonyan lords of his family to take his throne. His closest relative was his sister, Princess Cydeara, but the female was the wife of Rangyar's cruelest and most powerful warlord, Kai, and since she refused to divulge his whereabouts, and as she was detained at the palace under guard, the warlord remained a threat to the stability of the planet.

"You should be more enthusiastic about your nuptials." Stryfe rifled through the scrolls piled on his desk. "I have tried to gather information about your princess from the ambassador from Teralon, but the man has little to say. Did you have a chance to meet the princess when you were on Teralon?"

"There was no time to socialize," Taeron told him. As he remembered the brief meeting with the queen's consort, Balak, Taeron thought of Chaela and how she had clung to him as she wept for her brother. Now he wondered if there had been another reason for her reluctance to release him upon his departure, but since she had remained on Teralon with her husband and child, he realized that he had no reason to be suspicious. She had only been feeling the same grief that Taeron was feeling even now.

"The consort did not bring his daughter," he told Stryfe. If he had been thinking clearly, he would have realized that Balak had been just shy of rude to the commander of the army that had liberated his planet. Avar had been tight-lipped and sullen as he stood rigidly beside his father. Taeron had never liked Avar because of his behavior when he had come to Calabria. He had dishonored Chaela, gotten her with his child and then tried, unsuccessfully, to wed her sister, Shamara. Taeron had even asked the emperor for the honor of fighting Avar in Prince Dagan's place as his champion when the prince from Bayman had to duel the winged warrior for the woman he loved. Thinking back to the brief encounter with the royal family, Taeron supposed they had a reason to be inhospitable when the battle for their liberation had dragged out over several days when they had initially been so close to running off the Varoonyans.

Stryfe pursed his lips for a moment and then he said, "That is too bad because the ambassador either he doesn't know much about her or he does not want to reveal anything about Queen Neria's daughter, so I have thoroughly questioned his staff. She has been reported by one as fair-haired and another as dark-haired. She either has a sweet disposition or she is a nettlesome female that balks at her father's dictates."

"I cannot imagine waking each day with such a mercurial woman," said Taeron. He didn't deserve a sweet and loving wife anyway. He didn't deserve to begin his house. Amyr was dead and it was his fault for not being there to protect him.

"At least she won't be boring." Stryfe chuckled and then his smile faded. "You may have your hands full with that one."

Taeron did not want to have his hands full with any female let alone a winged virago that had to be hidden away in a palace lest a possible suitor be put off by her.

A knock at the door interrupted them, and Stryfe stepped into the hall for a moment. When he returned he was frowning as he read a paper in his hand.

Taeron raised a brow. "Problems?" What kind of problems could a scribe have? Were their problems with his ink supply?

Without answering, Stryfe set aside the message and left Taeron in his workroom as he went into the archive where there were many round cases stacked on shelves that reached the high ceiling. Each case was labeled on the end with symbols Taeron could not understand even if he could see them clearly. The coding was something only the imperial scribe understood, and it seemed to help Stryfe find what he was looking for. He pulled out a case, and opening it, he withdrew a rolled parchment that was bound with the blue and red ribbons that signified the scroll had been accepted by the emperor. Strye pulled off the ribbons to set aside when he returned to Taeron and he unrolled the parchment to the writing which had been elaborately decorated.

"I have received a request from Lady Arora to change the wording of the account of her son's death in battle."

Staring at the scroll Stryfe had laid out, Taeron wondered what had been written about the prince's derelict imperial guard. That he was frivolous and incompetent? That instead of being at the side of his prince in battle he was behaving dishonorably with Teralonian strumpets? And would he be allowed to read the account that Lady Arora wished written about Amyr's death?

Stryfe seemed to read his mind. "I know you believe otherwise, Taeron, but you were not at fault for what happened to Amyr. According to Darlac's testimony, Amyr instigated the last attack by the Varoonyans. While you were otherwise distracted, he gathered up men already tired from the day's fighting and forced them to begin the offensive without you when they were not ready and with no planning. Unfortunately, his men were outnumbered because Meridon's men would not follow him into battle, and when they fell back, the Varoonyans counterattacked the Calabrian camp."

Taeron had never known those details. He had assumed that Amyr had been killed in a surprise Varoonyan assault. "Amyr attacked them? Why would he do such a thing?" But Taeron knew the answer to that question already. Amyr needed to prove himself, and Taeron had provided him with the opportunity.

Stryfe rolled up the beautiful scroll and handed it Taeron. "I have as many details as possible that returning soldiers could give me. Perhaps you will gain some peace and forgive yourself when you read what they reported."

"You are giving this to me?" Taeron was surprised.

"I have to rewrite it." Stryfe shrugged. "I suppose it is wishful thinking, but Lady Arora wants me to change any mention of Amyr's death to a reference of disappearance."

"I saw his body," said Taeron. "He was holding his sword. No one would dare to take the crown prince's sword. It is the sword which has slain many emperors."

Stryfe nodded to the sword. "Then it is a great honor that the empress has given you the sword."

Remembering her comment about Staefyn, Taeron told Stryfe about it. Stryfe did not seem surprised. "Upon learning of Amyr's death, the emperor proclaimed Staefyn the crown prince, but Staefyn has proven as ill-suited to the position as Amyr."

Taeron frowned as a disquieting feeling came to him as they discussed Staefyn. He was not sure where it had come from, but it was gone instantly as if it had not been there at all. "Staefyn received imperial training and is qualified to lead the men." Staefyn had trained with Taeron and performed more than adequately. He had certainly achieved more success than Amyr had with the instructors.

"Staefyn seems to prefer spending time in the sacred hills where he has overseen the building of Guerani Palace. He comes to the imperial city immediately when summoned, and he is ever solicitous to his parents, but Trey confessed to me that he feels a distance has developed between them."

"Perhaps his duties have overwhelmed him," Taeron suggested.

"Perhaps," agreed Stryfe with a distracted murmur, his gaze roving to the parchment he had abandoned. He looked back at Taeron. "Two years ago when Trey accepted the agreement with Queen Neria, he asked Staefyn if he would wed the princess and he refused, claiming the imperial warlords would prefer that the crown prince take a Calabrian mate."

"Has Staefyn taken a mate?" Taeron thought of the female that had interested Staefyn in the hills.

"No. And during the rare visits he makes to the palace, he is polite to the females of the warrior houses that are presented to him, but he seems to have no interest in them." Stryfe smiled. "Some of them were quite lovely."

"You have not dishonored any of them?" asked Taeron with annoyance. His human brother enjoyed dallying with women and he shuddered to imagine the trouble he could cause his father's house by seducing the wrong female.

"Dishonor is a relative term," his brother told him with a chuckle.

"No, it is not." Taeron had a very good understanding of the word.

"Let us agree to disagree." Stryfe took Taeron's arm and guided him to the door. "I have much work to do and it is nearly noon, so you should find your mother."

Leaving Stryfe to his work, Taeron found his mother waiting for him and he accompanied her to Edgeland Fortress where they took a shuttle to Dagmaeus a few days later. Although he was glad to spend time with his family, Apolo reminded him too much of Amyr and he caught himself reliving that night in this thoughts and dreams. As he slept this night he saw Amyr on the battlefield fighting for his life with a large Varoonyan. In the dream Taeron had been separated from Amyr during the fighting, but when he saw the warlord attacking Amyr, he tried to reach him. He was too late, and as the Varoonyan swung his weapon to end Amyr's life, Taeron jerked awake before he saw the blade bite into his flesh.

Lying in the dark, his heart pounding, his breathing ragged, Taeron realized that he had fallen asleep with his hand curled around the hilt of Amyr's sword.

The following day Taeron sought Apolo to discuss the dream and found him sitting in the sunshine in the palace garden watching his son play in the grass. Taeron sat next to Apolo in the shade of the tree, and for a moment they did not speak as they both watched Azrael crawl after a lizard that stayed just out of his reach. The toddler had the dark hair and light brown eyes of his father, but Taeron could see his mother in the boy as well.

"Do you think he will have Guerani powers?" asked Taeron.

"I am sure of it," Apolo told him with no hint of bravado. "I have seen the signs in your sisters as well. Ajaela can sense the feelings of others although not consistently, but with training, she will learn to use her magic. I can also feel the stirring of magic in Arina."

"How does my mother feel about her children having Guerani powers?"

Apolo smiled. "I cannot say that she is delighted because she cannot completely overcome the prejudice against my people with which she was raised, but she accepts it." His smile faded and he reached out to grasp Taeron's hand. "You are troubled."

Taeron told him about his dream, and then he asked Apolo if it was possible that the last moments of Amyr's life had been somehow bonded to the sword. "Lady Arora sensed something when she held the sword."

They both knew that Dax had trapped a part of Trey's soul in that very sword. "I do not know how it could have been possible, Taeron. My sister blessed the sword when she gave it to Amyr, and I cannot imagine what she felt when she held it." Apolo squeezed his hand. "Your grief is painful, Taeron. Allow me to ease it for you."

Shaking his head, Taeron withdrew his hand. "I wish to live with the memories."

"I understand." Apolo probably understood better than Taeron why he did not want him to tamper with his memories. When he was a small child, his mother had told him the story of the emperor's loss of his memories of the woman he loved and Taeron had developed a fear of such magic. He would not be able to bear the loss of even a single memory of those he loved.

After leaving Apolo, Taeron found his mother in her elegant, tastefully decorated salon. She was sitting with his sisters on either side of her, and he was amused to watch her instruct them as they plied needles to decorate a garment spread across their laps with bright threads. Ajaela, although only five, seemed to be adept at sewing while Arina, a year younger, was having difficulty manipulating the needle properly. Taeron watched long enough to hear Arina huff with disappointment at a stitch she had just made.

His mother laughed softly and kissed the top of her dark head. "Do not worry, Ari. You have made a stitch that is unique."

Ajaela giggled. "I have made many unique stitches."

Taeron caught the hint of a smile on his mother's lips before she frowned sternly at her eldest daughter. "Try not to make so many or the garment will be too unique for anyone to wear." She bent her head to peer closer at the work and Taeron saw his sisters exchange humored glances. For a moment he was reminded of Shamara and Chaela and those rare moments when they were growing up that they would be up to some sort of mischief. His sisters looked so much like the imperial princesses that Taeron was momentarily disoriented.

He did not realize they had noticed him until Ajaela touched her mother's arm and he heard her urgent, frightened murmur. "There is a man here."

When she raised her head, Larya was frowning, but when she saw that the man was Taeron, she turned that frown on her daughter. "This is your brother."

She had barely been old enough to walk when he left, so Taeron was not surprised that she would not recognize him, but he was sad to realize he was a stranger to her, a stranger that had seemed to alarm her.

"Greet your brother," Larya ordered her daughters. They were reluctant to leave her but probably more frightened of the consequences of refusing so they walked slowly to him.

Stopping before him, they bowed their dark heads. "Greetings, my lord."

The title they had given him and their formal display bothered Taeron. Glancing at his mother, he saw that she was frowning, not at them, but at him. By the gods! What had he done to deserve that scowl?

She did not give him a chance to wonder for long. "You are as rude as your sire! Do you not realize how intimidating you are? They are your sisters, not some rascals off the street who have tossed flower petals upon you in celebration of your staggering success."

He bowed his head. "I am sorry, mother." Now he dropped to a knee so that he was at their level and he held out his arms. They hesitated for a moment longer before rushing to him. Taeron folded them in his arms to kiss the tops of their heads and hold them against him. He was unprepared for the joy he now felt at being amongst his family after all he had endured in the last three years. He did not release them until he felt Arina wriggle against him and he realized he might be holding them too close.

His mother was watching him with a raised brow. "You have become brutish."

Ajaela giggled which earned her a reproachful glance.

Arina tugged on his hand. "Are you really marrying a princess?"

Before he could answer, Ajaela blurted, "We are making your nuptial tunic!"

"Ajaela!" snapped Larya with impatience. "That was to be a surprise."

"He saw us working on it," pointed out Arina.

Taeron glanced at the garment his mother had carefully set aside and he winced as he thought of the faceless female that he would marry. Thankfully he had much work to do on Varoonya before he could do as the emperor wished. That might give him enough time to grow used to the idea of sharing his life with the princess.

"Girls, go find your father and brother. I am sure he has some lessons for you."

When they left, Taeron felt that they were not thrilled about whatever lessons Apolo had for them. He remembered the times Apolo had tried to coax powers from Arora's children, of how Amyr would squirm as Apolo gazed into his eyes as he held his hands. Chaela would never sit still, and would ultimately have a tantrum while Staefyn sat still and stiff until Apolo would look away muttering about muddy Calabrian blood. By the time he had begun his attempts at training the other children, Taeron had left the palace for his own training at Wasteland Fortress.

"You look tired," observed Larya as she took his hand and led him to the sofa where she had been sitting with his sisters.

"I could do not sleep well," he told her.

She put her arms around him and drew his head to her shoulder. "I wish I could say that I know what troubles you, Taeron, but this is something I cannot possibly understand. I am disgusted to admit this, but I think your father is better qualified to help you through this. I am not a warrior, and I have been sheltered from such violence nearly all my life."

Sitting with her in the circle of her arms, breathing in her familiar scent and hearing the cadence of her heart was enough to ease the ache of his heart. "I would never wish to harm Amyr," he told her without raising his head to see her face. His mother had never made any secret of her annoyance with Amyr, even when they were small children and Amyr accompanied Taeron occasionally during the visits he was allowed, just as Taeron accompanied him on visits to Ulfynaeus. Taeron had accepted the arrangement as a child without questioning, but he had come to realize those visits had allowed him to have a relationship with the man who would not claim him as well as the mother the emperor did not quite trust.

He expected his mother to remark as she often did that Amyr did not deserve him, but she wisely changed the subject. "I may not be able to address your military prowess, but I can certainly help you with suggestions for your conjugal success."

Sighing, he let her talk, and the sound of her voice soon lulled him to sleep. When he awoke, the room was shadowed to tell him that the first sun had already set, but his head had slipped to her bosom and saw that she had somehow managed to get the tunic in her lap to sew upon as he slept. Lifting his head, he kissed her cheek to convey his thanks for allowing him to sleep. He loved his mother so much that he wondered if his reluctance to take a wife was due to an unwillingness to allow another female to supplant her in his life. He could not even imagine such a thing.

She put her hand on his cheek. "I have made arrangements for you to go to Ulfynaeus on the morrow. Trey sent a message ordering you to begin you trip back to Varoonya by the end of the week, so you cannot remain much longer."

Taeron was sadly reminded of the short stays of his childhood. Trey had been acutely aware of the loyalty Larya inspired on the pirate satellite and then on the moon where those people had settled. Even though she probably would not incite a rebellion that could challenge his rule, Taeron was his insurance that she did not try. The large contingent of imperial warriors that had accompanied Taeron and Amyr on his trips to Dagmaeus were not there just to protect the emperor's son. Trey did not trust Larya until she had won Arora's friendship, and by that time Taeron was old enough to understand the intricate relationship between the adults of his life. That did not make parting from her any less painful.

She smiled at him now and brushed the hair from his face. "Don't worry, Taeron. There is enough time for us to continue the discussion which you rudely interrupted with your snores. The princess of Teralon will have no reason to complain about having to mate with a clumsy warrior."

By the gods, she kept him awake most of the night and he was further embarrassed when Apolo came upon them to announce the evening meal, and hearing the topic of Larya's one-sided conversation, he earned her gratitude by suggesting that he send the meal to them so that she need not stop.

When he arrived on the second moon, he was fatigued, both from the lack of sleep - how was he supposed to sleep after his mother's detailed explanations of male/female interaction? - the sickness he developed in the shuttle. He wished he could have rested longer on Dagmaeus because now he was feeling unwell. The ultimate healer, Lady Trynity immediately saw that he was ill when she greeted him, and since Lord Duo was busy with a tribal matter, she escorted him to bed and dosed him with her healing tea. Taeron was quite amazed by how quickly it acted to make him feel more than a little euphoric, and he drifted to sleep for the first time in the last three years without the regrets and self-recriminations that had plagued him since Amyr's death.

When he awoke, he found it difficult to move at first, but as he did, his strength returned. The bitter taste in his mouth struck him as odd until he remembered the medicine Trynity had given him. He couldn't get that taste out of his mouth and he realized with surprise that it was the same taste as the wine he had drank on Teralon. He had no choice but to accept that he had been given the herb on Teralon and he could think of only one source.

Taeron went in search of Trynity immediately and found her in her herb garden, his young siblings, Gianeta and Matyas, trampling her precious healing plants as she half-heartedly scolded them while plucking leaves. As Taeron came to scoop Matyas out of pile of mud and set him on the grass, his father's wife smiled up at him.

"You seem to be feeling better." She waved to the two harrowed nannies who came forward to whisk away the children for a bath although they refused to go until Taeron promised to spend time with them later. He smiled after them as they both whooped with delight and ran into the palace with their nannies chasing them. They were near in age to Ajaela and Arina, but his mother would never tolerate her daughters behaving like hoydens, so they were sweet-mannered demure females. He adored his siblings although he despaired that he would probably not know them as well as he knew the emperor's children.

Taeron rubbed mud from his hands. "Your tea is a wondrous drug."

"Not to be taken in too large a dose," she said.

"Can it cause death in such a circumstance?" Taeron was afraid to hear the answer when he had convinced himself that he had been dosed with the drug on Teralon that fateful night.

He was relieved when she replied, "No, just a damn nasty headache" She put her arm around his and led him into the garden. The tangled mess of thorny flowers amused Taeron. There was some romantic tale behind it, but Taeron thought the garden was a bit unsightly, and his last memory of being in this garden was not pleasant, so he was glad to put it behind them when they reached the lake where they sat down.

"Your father is glad that you have returned. We worried about you, especially after we received news of Amyr's death."

Taeron felt his throat tighten. He wanted to apologize for what had happened to Amyr, for what had happened to Quynn, but he could not without weeping.

Trynity continued. "I wish you could spend more time with us before you return to Varoonya, but Trey reminded more this morning that you are needed on Varoonya." She rolled her eyes at the mention of the emperor, so Taeron knew that little had changed in their relationship. "Your brother and sister do not even know you except as a grand hero and champion of the people of Varoonya and Teralon."

"I am no champion or hero," he murmured sadly.

She reached out to take his hand. "Do not blame yourself, Taeron."

"How can I not when I could have prevented Quynn from seeing Amyr that night? If she had not..."

Trynity squeezed his hand to stop him. "If she had not, she would have caught him another time and then another and her life would be miserable."

"Instead, she is dead and so is Amyr." Taeron's lashes were wet with tears.

His stepmother put her arms around him and he was glad for the comfort she gave him. "You must take some time to grieve, Taeron. How will you heal?"

"I had no time," he admitted.

Releasing him, she looked at his face. "We have heard that you fought like a man berserked."

"I have no recollection." He had not realized so much time had passed on the planets near the frontier.

"Interesting." She was looking at him as if trying to examine him.

Taeron couldn't help but smile. "I will give as thorough an accounting as I can later so that you may devise an explanation for my fantastical feats."

"I believe an intense rush of adrenaline can affect you so as to make you berserk. Such a response was not unheard of in popular folklore on Earth. You witnessed such a state yourself when Prince Dagan fought for Shamara. Although some argue that Dagmaeus had possessed him, I still believe his love for her gave him the strength to prevail. You must have entered the state in response to what happened to Amyr. The combination of your mother and father's physiology must have enabled you to sustain the berserk." She must have realized that her words confused him. "You must be exhausted now that it has come to an end." She started to get up. "I can leave you alone…"

Hearing her talk dispassionately about Amyr's death and it's effect on him did made it easier for him to speak of the prince he had failed, and he needed to speak to someone about his suspicions. Taeron grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "I must ask you some questions about Amyr."

Her brows raised. "I don't know what I could possibly tell you."

"When we stopped at Ulfynaeus on our way to Teralon, he spoke to you at length. I would like to know what you discussed."

She shrugged. "He was interested in my research. He studied my publication on medicinal herbs and wanted more detailed explanations. I think he earnestly wanted to learn healing arts because he feared he could not be respected as a leader."

Her explanation was similar to Amyr's excuse when Taeron had questioned him, but Taeron no longer believed Amyr had anything but a nefarious reason for his interest. Taeron turned Trynity's hand in his and noted the dirt on her fingers from working with her plants. "Did you show him the plants in your medicinal garden?"

Trynity frowned as she stared at their joined hands. "Why are you asking me?"

After a moment of silence, she raised her head and their eyes met. Taeron admitted to her what he had not to anyone because his shame was so great in failure. He told her every detail that he remembered of that night. "The following morning I awoke to find Amyr had gone and we were in the middle of a battle, and I had a strange taste in my mouth. It was bitter, and I couldn't rid myself of it for several hours."

She tilted her head and frowned. "It sounds like the same herb I gave you last night."

"One and the same. Amyr claimed I had been drinking wine that night, and I don't remember doing so although I do recall a cup of water that I now believe must have been drugged. I remember those women coming into the tent, but very little beyond it." He concluded by saying, "I don't know what was a dream and what was not."

"But you remember Amyr returning?"

"I do." Taeron did not tell her that he thought Staefyn had come into his tent because that had been a trick of the light. Staefyn could not have been on Teralon and Calabria at the same time.

Trynity sat silently for a few moments as she considered what he had told her, and then she rose, pulling him up with her. "I think we can get to the bottom of this. Come with me."

They went back to the palace and headed to Duo's office where she contacted the governor's palace on Dagmaeus. Fortunately Apolo was available to talk to them.

"Taeron, your mother will be disappointed that you called when she was busy," he gently scolded him. "I am sure she has thought of more to tell you."

Taeron winced at the memory. "I am sure she will have another chance before I give Princess Dijana my oath."

"She will make sure of it."

Before Apolo could tease him any more, Trynity steered the conversation where she wanted it to head.

"Taeron and I were having an interesting discussion about what happened on Teralon." She quickly explained all that Taeron had told her, then added her own question. "Is it possible for Amyr to initiate a trance on his own?"

Startled by her conclusion, Taeron looked from her to Apolo who sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. For a few moments, he did not say anything, and feeling guilty about blaming a dead man for his failure, Taeron said, "I know that I am at fault…"

Apolo interrupted him. "While he was here, Amyr asked many questions about trances. I wondered where his interest had come from, but Amyr went out of his way to avoid my touch."

"Then it is possible," said Trynity, "that Amyr could have come into his Guerani powers and not have told anyone."

"It must have happened very shortly after the debacle with Quynn." Apolo seemed reluctant to bring up Taeron's sister. "I confess, I was supervising work at Guerani Palace to prepare it for Amyr and Quynn's visit and I felt a disturbance in the voices, but I had no way of knowing what could have caused it." Apolo spoke of the spirit voices of his ancestors whose continued presence in the Guerani Hills helped their magic to flourish. "And if Amyr did not use his magic in my presence, I would not have felt it in him since he avoided my touch. But I find it hard to believe he would be able to take Taeron into a trance so soon after receiving his powers."

Taeron felt betrayed. "Why did he use his magic against me?" He was more hurt than he wanted to admit. "I protected him, kept him safe despite what he had done to my sister!"

"I don't think we should tell Trey," said Trynity. "He is better off believing what good he can of Amyr's last hours alive. He does not need to know that Amyr tried to engineer Taeron's dishonor, not when it ultimately led to his own death. "

"For what it is worth," added Apolo, "I am sorry that my nephew treated you so poorly."

Trynity ended the communication, and then she put her arms around Taeron to give him comfort that he sorely needed. All this time Taeron had believed that he had behaved ignobly when the truth was Amyr had drugged him and put him in a trance. Did Amyr get what he wanted out of that battle? Or did he get what the gods deemed he deserved?


	8. Chapter 8 Beyond the frontier

**Chapter 8**

The shriek of one of the females startled Quynn from the sleep into which she had fallen despite her effort to stay awake. Her eyes flew open and she watched anxiously as yet another woman sharing this cage with her was dragged away kicking and screaming in mortal terror by the beasts that held them all captive. Quynn's gut churned, and she had to look away from the creatures whose slimy green saliva dripped from tusks that curled outward from the corners of their lips. They grunted some primitive language that no female in the cage understood. Thinking that her brother would probably unravel the mystery of their bestial language, Quynn tried to distract herself from the gruesome fate of the woman whose screams made her heart wrench until they suddenly stopped.

Quynn pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. She had only herself to blame for her present predicament. Why had she been so foolish? Her only thought when she left Ulfynaeus was to put as much distance between her and Amyr as possible. Quynn had reasoned that her father would be angry that she had broken the oath made on the honor of his house and would surely follow her to the solar system. He would take her back to Calabria and force her to marry Amyr, and that she would not do when she knew that he did not love her.

So she had directed the hyper-space ship in the opposite direction, towards Teralon where she intended to ask Amyr's sister, Chaela, to hide her until she could decide what she would do. She did not know Chaela, but Quynn knew enough about her to hope that she would not balk at aiding her. Chaela would also be able to tell her what her options concerning Amyr were after she had made an oath to him. Quynn had refused to believe that the few words they had exchanged had the power to bind them for life, and yet she feared that they had.

Distraught and not thinking straight when she entered the code to blast into hyper-space, Quynn realized too late that she hadn't buckled into her seat. The sudden burst of speed threw her back against the wall where she hit her head and lost consciousness. She awoke to a ship drifting in space, and when she consulted the ship's monitors, she saw that she was out of fuel and she was stranded in an area of space for which her craft's computer had no information. Quynn was stranded beyond the frontier, far from the binary system.

Adding to her dilemma, she was seriously short of food rations because the ship had not been restocked after her trip from the solar system. After landing at Edgeland Fortress, she had not given any thought to the food supply on the ship because after the short trip to Ulfynaeus, she had been planning to take the ship to the surface back to Edgeland Fortress for further training with Calabrian pilots after her honeymoon with Amyr. Quynn could not believe that she had behaved in such an irrational manner over a man she should have realized did not have one shred of decency in him!

For days she had drifted in space with no fuel and later no food, almost giving up hope that she would be rescued when a scavenging transport found her craft. She had been thankful for the rescue and tried to express it even though the humanoid beings couldn't understand what she said. Unfortunately, the horned creatures were more interested in the ship, and once they had the towlines secured to take it onto their gigantic barge, they held a cacophonous discussion and apparently decided she wasn't worth anything to them because one of them tried to force her out an airlock.

Quynn fought against him, managed to grab his weapon and she demanded that they contact the Calabrian empire to inform them of her whereabouts even though she knew they did not understand her. They must have been familiar with the Calabrian empire because when they heard her say it, they sprang into action to subdue her. Since she had no idea how to operate the weapon, she could only use it as a club and they easily overcame her, knocking her out.

When she regained consciousness, she was surprised that she was alive, but not so surprised to find herself bound and and at the mercy of these slimy tusked creatures who treated her like an animal as they yanked on the tether securing her. Even though her head was aching and she was weak from lack of food, she fought the beasts until they grew annoyed and incapacitated her with surges of energy from sticks they were carrying. She had dropped to the floor, unable to move or react, and they dragged her after them before tossing her into a crate with several other women of different races.

At least they fed them and she was not too proud to take the scraps thrown to them during the spaceflight to another planet where the crate was taken to a structure that she realized was a holding pen. Once there, the crate was opened and she was glad to get out of the soiled container, but it was only long enough for her captors to strip her of her tattered, soiled clothing after which they doused her with cold water to clean the worst of her vile filth before she was shoved into large cage she now shared with over a dozen other females.

A moan drew her attention to the woman lying beside Quynn in the filthy dried plants that served as bedding for them. She glanced at the painfully thin female who was now curled in a fetal position. When Quynn first arrived in this cage, she found herself drawn to her, and without knowing why, she tried to make her comfortable. Perhaps by easing her suffering, she was distracting herself from her own miserable existence. Quynn didn't understand the mumbling of the woman, nor did she give her any indication that she understood the monologue Quynn carried out with herself just to keep her sanity. After an endless time among these female prisoners from different races and worlds, Quynn couldn't communicate with any of them. They had one thing in common, however, and that was their fate, the same as the woman who had just met hers.

"I should have realized that Amyr was a prick," she said for the thousandth time. Maybe if she spoke to the woman she would stop all that depressing noise and she could keep her mind off what had happened to the female and worrying about what she would do when it would be her turn to leave the cage in the not so gentle care of her jailers.

The woman looked at her, her glowing colorless eyes peering through stringy, matted hair that must have once been beautiful, thick pale hair. Quynn knew that she wasn't much to look at either. Her face was swollen from blows she had taken while fighting for the food thrown into the cage by their captors, and she knew she was filthy and stunk horribly, but she no longer noticed the stench because she was so used to it. There were days that she wished the suffering would end because she knew that her fight for survival was useless, and yet she continued on like an animal existing on instinct.

The woman's lips moved, and Quynn thought she understood a couple of words, so Quynn took it as a sign that they could learn to communicate. She continued to talk, except now she directed her soliloquy to the woman. As the days passed, the woman picked up more and more words and Quynn was glad that at least she wasn't as incompetent in language acquisition as she was. Stryfe had often bemoaned her lack of talent, but then Stryfe did not have her skill as a pilot.

At least she learned that the woman's name was Malya. After many days in the wretched cage, days that she could only mark by how often she slept, Quynn found that Malya began to understand her very well. She admitted that it was due to a device that had been implanted behind her ear by the slave-traders to whom she had been sold. The sophisticated chip had learned the language that Quynn used and had fed the information to her brain.

"Maybe my lack of understanding Calabrian lead me to the stupid scheme of marrying Amyr," she grumbled one day shortly after watching another female led away. That one had gone without fighting and Quynn wondered how she would act when they took her.

"You should have known better," muttered the woman.

Quynn was ashamed to hear her own thoughts voiced. "If you had been there, you could now say "I told you so."

"I told you so," said Malya. "It is not too late for you to hear it."

Quynn smiled and took Malya's hand which was little more than bone covered with skin. She doubted Malya had much longer to live. The woman did not fight for food, would not even take a portion of what Quynn offered her of her own.

"Can you explain how you came to be here?" asked Quynn curiously. Although she had spoken freely of her own troubles, she knew nothing of the woman who had become her companion in this godforsaken hole.

Malya seemed reluctant to talk or she just didn't know the words, but after a few moments of silence, when Quynn had almost given up hope that she would tell her anything, she finally spoke.

"I was captured and sold into slavery by the mistress of my husband, Prince Draygo."

So men on other planets were as duplicitous as they were on Calabria. "Does your husband love this other woman?" Quynn knew marriages were arranged between important families. That kind of arrangement was still practiced on Earth and in the colonies. A couple might pretend to have feelings for each other in order to satisfy the desires of their parents. Such practices ensured the continuation of power in the hands of few. Isn't that why Amyr wanted to marry her? He had only pretended to love her so that he could please his parents and earn the approval of his people.

Malya smiled sadly. "Much like you, I was fooled by a handsome man's glib promises. Draygo is a powerful man on my world, power that he owed to that woman, summoner of beasts."

"You have got to be kidding!" Summoning beasts and spirits? That only happened in virtual games!

But Malya continued, her voice raspy and breathy. "The summoner Tanyta kept her powers hidden while Prince Raygo courted me. He needed my father's aide to vanquish his neighbors to the south, and he was willing to take me as his wife to earn it."

"Did you have any say in the marriage?"

There was a faraway dreamy look in Malya's unnaturally colorless eyes. "If you could see Prince Raygo, you would know that my fate was sealed. He is beyond handsome, and the strongest of men."

Her story was uncomfortably close to her own. "So this Tanyta woman wasn't too happy about his marriage to you?"

"She felt confident enough in her position that nothing changed in her relationship with him. Raygo needed her to summon, and he was pleased with the warriors that my father provided." She was twisting a jeweled bracelet on her wrist that their captors had tried and failed to remove. The jewels were colorless like Malya's eyes and Quynn often wondered what gem they were and on what world they were mined. Even in Calabria they did not have such stones.

"What changed their happy little situation?" she asked her. Malya's story was at least more entertaining than watching the rodents and beetles forage in the filth of the cell even if it wasn't all that believable. Amyr would probably enjoy the feast crawling through the rushes. Her mother had remarked that the Calabrians rarely had to worry about finding nourishment, but Quynn was not going to even consider chewing on the beetle nibbling on the inedible remains of the last meal tossed aside by another female.

"The child changed everything."

"Child?" Quynn looked at her to ask whose child, but Malya had closed her eyes and her breathing was shallow.

After a moment, Quynn checked her pulse, and finding it very weak, she knew that soon she would lose the friend she had made. She would not hear the rest of her story, and Prince Raygo will have succeeded in destroying the woman he had used so callously.

Holding Malya's hand so that she would not have to leave this existence alone, Quynn leaned against the wall and closed her own eyes. She had only planned to blot out the horror of her surroundings, but she soon fell into a deep sleep. Normally, she could awaken herself quickly, fearing she might be dragged from the cell, but this time she was unable. But her dream was so vivid as she found herself in mist shrouded surroundings. Quynn tried to move, but she was unable, and she started to feel panic until she heard a familiar voice.

"I am sorry to bring you here."

Quynn turned to see Malya standing nearby. "Where are we?"

Malya didn't respond as she walked to her. "You must take this." She unclipped the bracelet from her arm. "I have heard your story and I would trust no other. You must care for him."

Quynn could only watch as the other woman clipped the bracelet on her arm. "What is this? Who must I care for?"

But Malya did not answer and a bright light blinded her as her body was overcome with heat.

Her eyes popped open in time to see that her captors had entered the cage and were prodding Malya. The woman lay motionless on the ground, beetles already crawling over her. Quynn noticed that she was the only woman left in the cage just as they turned their attention away from the lifeless female. Quynn had no time to grieve for the woman who had befriended her. She noticed that the door was standing open, so she sprang to her feet and charged for it. The creatures chased her, snorting and making a sound that sounded like a squeeling pig. Quynn didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, but she did know that she wasn't going to the fate they intended for her.

The holding area was a maze of cages crammed with miserable females that did not even lift their heads to watch her. Quynn feared she would be trapped, but fortunately the tusked beasts were not intelligent and could not anticipate her moves. Eventually she came to stairs that lead upwards. Once she reached the opening, she did not pause in rushing out into the cool, clean air.

The sudden light stunned and disoriented her as well as the cacophony of voices. Once she regained her eyesight, she was amazed to see that there were humanoids seated around a banquet table wearing colorful clothing which marked them as wealthy and privileged. There was a large platter of meat on the table from which they were tearing with their fingers, and Quynn nearly vomited when she recognized the torso of a female.

The tusked beasts were apparently just the servants of these twisted aliens because when the beasts had charged into the banquet hall, their appearance caused an uproar of gasps and horrified cries from the people. They were just as disgusted by the people who did their dirty work as the poor wretches who eventually found their way to their plates. Quynn saw that the beasts were reluctant to approach the humans, so she jumped onto the table and charged to the middle where she paused to look at those gathered. She was able to discern quickly who their leader was, and she grabbed him by his silky, fine clothing and jerked him from his plush chair.

"Take me to a ship!" She snatched up a knife and held it to his throat when he did not react. "Now!"

He could not understand her, but the look in her eyes must have warned him what she wanted. The beasts did not move after her, and she waited until he issued some orders to humanoid guards at the door. She held him tightly in her grasp, perfectly willing to cut off his head with the knife that might have been used to cut her own roasted meat. Somehow he managed to convey to her that she should follow his guards, and she did so, threatening him whenever his people tried to get close to her.

He led her to what appeared to be a spacecraft hanger and Quynn was amazed to see her own ship. The men must have sold her ship to these disgusting people when they had sold her. She jerked the man toward that ship when he pointed out a different one. Quynn would have to send a little prayer offering to the gods for such fortune because there was now at least a slim chance that she could escape since she could pilot it better than any other man or woman.

Once inside the cockpit, she could see that technicians must have been working on the ship because wires were exposed. She kept her prisoner at hand as she tested the systems, and when she realized they must have repaired most of the hyper-drive, she dragged the man to the door, then planted her foot in his backside to propel him out. Closing the door, she hurried to her seat, buckled in, and hit the lift-off boosters. For a moment they did not respond, then suddenly she heard the deafening roar as they fired and the ship shot upwards. Quynn knew how to pilot this ship, so she didn't waste any time escaping the planet, and as she did, she thanked any god that would listen for her grandfather's incredible engineering skills.

She kept her eyes on the scanners to watch for pursuit ships, but she must not have been important to those people because they did not follow. Quynn couldn't believe she had escaped! She regretted that Malya had died, but the woman had been too weak to survive and she wondered if the alien female had ever been strong.

Remembering her strange dream, Quynn glanced down at her arm and saw with surprise that the bracelet was attached around her wrist. Frowning, she reached out to touch it, and when her fingers brushed the lovely stones that seemed to match Malya's eyes, she felt a strange warmth fill her. No magical knowledge came to her from touching the stones and she could not guess what the purpose of the bracelet. Since coming to the binary system, she had come to realize that some things in the universe could not be explained by her limited human experiences.

She busied herself for several hours by checking the systems on the craft and making some adjustments, then she hunted for something to eat and found the craft just as barren as she had left it. Apparently it was not being prepared for any flights or it might have been stocked with something even remotely edible. At least the craft had been repaired and she might be able to find a world where she would not be considered food.

A few days later Quynn was in the same situation she had been in before she was captured by the space scavengers. She was starving to death with not so much as a beetle to eat. Scanning space, she did find a planet a few days distant which might be habitable. She would surely be dead by the time she could reach it, but she had to try, so she coded the navigation to send the ship in that direction of space.

After doing so, she sat back in her chair, strapped in this time, and she closed her eyes. She was filthy and naked but she did not care enough to find out if the aliens had found the battle suit. Exhausted, she could only sit in the pilot's seat to wait for rescue or death.

As her eyes closed, she was sure for the last time, she thought about how she had Amyr to thank for this situation. If he hadn't been such a…

"Are you going to sleep all day? This is a very disappointing experience for me."

Her eyes snapped open and she saw that she was no longer on the ship. Had she slept through the trip to the planet? Had she somehow landed and left the ship? She was now sitting under a tree in a shade. The voice she had heard came from a form standing before her, an almost shapeless form that was blurred by the sunlight streaming behind him.

"Where…where am I?" she asked, her voice hoarse from lack of water, her tongue thick and sluggish as she stumbled over the words.

He squatted so that he was even with her, and in his hands he held a cup of water.

As she took the cup, her eyes met his, and she was startled to realize that it was Amyr. Why not? This was probably her final dream. Rather than tell him exactly what she thought, Quynn reached out for the cup, but because her hands were shaking, he continued to hold it, helping her raise it to her lips. The water was cool and refreshing, and once she had drained the cup, she leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes from the sun.

"It will be second sunset soon," he told her.

His voice startled her, and opening her eyes, she realized she had fallen asleep. The sky was darkening with a beautiful twilight panorama that she had only seen on Calabria. "Where…where are we?" Her voice was no longer so pathetic although it was still weak.

"You know the answer to that question."

Quynn looked around to see that she was surrounded by a wooded area, but she had been resting on mossy ground in a clearing. Then she looked toward the horizon where the sun was setting and she thought they might be on Earth since there was only one sun until she looked up and noted the presence of two small moons. He had mentioned second sunset, but she was sure that she could not be on Calabria.

"You are hungry," he remarked when she did not answer. "So am I. Let's have something to eat. The servants have gone to a lot of trouble to prepare for us a feast."

The mention of food made her stomach growl, but she could not be embarrassed anymore. A picnic of sorts was laid out on a blanket, and the food on the plates gave further evidence to being on Calabria, but as she nibbled on a sweetened sand slug, she reminded herself that she was too far away from Calabria, that she would be long dead before reaching it even if she had enough fuel. Did it matter where she was or if this was an hallucination brough on by her dying brain? There was nourishment and she was hungry, so she set about eating enough to satisfy her most basic need to survive. If she ate more, she would probably be sick, and she certainly didn't want Amyr to witness that.

Amyr? How could Amyr be here? She was too weary to wonder how this could happen, so she ignored the handsome crown prince of Calabria, and laid down on the blanket to take a nap. She would probably never awaken, but at least she was going to die comfortably.

Sometime later, she felt a hand on her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see that Amyr had lain beside her. "What do you think you are doing?" she demanded weakly. His touch made her warm. The sun had set, so they were lying in the light of the moons.

"I am sorry, Quynn, for the dishonor I have given you and the house of your father." He moved closer to her so that their bodies were almost touching. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Quynn snorted derisively. "Why in the name of your gods am I subjected to this before I die? What did I do to deserve this?"

"You didn't do anything, Quynn. The fault was mine. I was stupid. I didn't realize how special you are, how much I care about you." Amyr's hand moved to her neck and the warmth became more than just pleasant. He really did know how to manipulate a woman, she thought as she moved towards him against her will. No, not against her will, because Quynn wanted before her death, what she had been denied in her life.

"I can't forgive you," she said, her raspy voice little more than a breathy sigh.

"I would not expect you to." He didn't say any more before his lips touched hers, and she slid her arms around him to bring him closer.

This wasn't exactly how she had imagined she would be with Amyr the first time, but then again, it was also the only time and she knew she was hallucinating. This was a dream spawned from her imagination, but her imagination was far more fertile than her waking fantasies about him had ever been because she could never have dreamed of the responses Amyr awakened in her now with his touch. The Amyr of her hallucination was a gentle lover who put her at ease with the awkwardness of her inexperience, and when he took her innocence, she felt nothing but joy under the light of the moons.

As she lay contentedly in his arms in the aftermath of their loving, Amyr did not speak as he caressed her. If he was surprised that she had managed to keep herself pure, he did not say so as he lightly stroked his fingers along her back. Quynn had taken to heart the few discussions she had with her mother about being intimate with a man, that she should only give herself to a man that she loved and not succumb to fleeting moments of pleasure. At the time, Quynn had assumed her mother was talking about her husband, that man Quynn had come to realize was her stepfather and not her father, when she told her how special her first time had been. Quynn knew differently now. She had wanted that same special memory, and now she had gotten it with the man she loved with all her heart and soul. Sadly, it was only a dream.

"We should get back to the palace," Amyr finally said.

"Palace?"

Amyr's deep chuckle sent a shiver of pleasure through her. Her body had always reacted to this man, from the first moment that she saw him in the garden of her father's palace. As he moved away from her to hunt his clothing, she watched him and wondered if the real Amyr was as finely formed as the one her imagination had conjured. Where did she get such thoughts anyway? Not since she had left behind the days when she had splashed in the bathtub with her twin brother had she seen a male's naked body, and yet she had given Amyr a form that was far more enticing than the anatomical pictures in her mother's medical textbooks.

After pulling on his leggings and slipping on his ornate tunic, he reached down to take her hand and pulled her up so that she was against his hard body.

"Are you going to dress, my heart? Or do you want the servants at Guerani Palace gossiping about your scandalous behavior?"

Quynn remembered that after the bonding ceremony, she and Amyr would have made the two day trip to Edgeland Fortress before heading to the palace under construction in the sacred hills where they would spend many weeks uninterrupted in what the Calabrians called a mating ritual but what she would call her honeymoon. Turning her head now, she spied the dark outline of the palace in the moonlit distance above them.

"Where are we?" She was beginning to feel disoriented. Quynn had never seen the palace and yet she was looking at it now in the light of the two moons she had no trouble recognizing.

"You were very tired after the ceremony," he told her as he released her. He scooped up a garment from the grass and she stood in dazed confusion as he slipped it over her head and helped her put her arms in the sleeves. She recognized the garment her mother had told her was a gift from Lady Larya, Taeron's mother. The silky fabric clung to her indecently, but then that had been the intent.

Amyr made a sound that resembled a growl as he looked at her and he drew her against him, his hands touching her with need. "If we don't go back now, we will spend the night out here and there are a few creatures in the hills that we don't want finding us. I would rather not be the late night snack of a canyon beast."

He released her and taking her hand, he lead her away from their cozy nest beneath the tree. Quynn looked down again at the gown she had planned to wear for her marriage ceremony before the imperial court. "Is this our honeymoon?" she asked dumbly as she stumbled along with him.

He turned his head to look at her. "That is what you humans call it. It is our mating initiation."

"How romantic," she muttered sarcastically although her initiation under the tree on the mossy ground was more romantic than she ever would have allowed in her waking imagination. Her mother was a doctor and she had learned clinically by the time she had come into womanhood what sex entailed and what it would lead to. "I suppose if I don't produce a child, I'll be given the boot by the imperial family."

Amyr frowned down at her. "The boot? Why would my family wish to give you footwear and only one at that?"

Even in her imagination he did not understand her human colloquial expressions. Stryfe used them often to confuse Calabrians so that he could laugh about it later.

When she explained her meaning, Amyr snorted derisively. "Where do you get these absurd ideas? Is that what humans do in your system? We do not need to produce children quickly, nor do I consider it a mark of my manhood. If you chose not to have a child of our time here, I will not be angered." He brought her into his arms and lowered his head to hers until their foreheads were touching. Quynn had occasionally seen Calabrians do this and knew it was an expression of love. Her heart swelled.

"I want you to myself before we surround ourselves with our offspring."

"It would certainly help your reputation," she commented aloud.

"After what we have shared tonight, Quynn, you have wounded me." He straightened away from her.

Quynn felt guilty for her accusation. Those moments of intimacy with Amyr were something she wouldn't want to take back. She had little time left, but she would treasure the memory of what they had done for as much time as she could. "I am sorry."

The doors to the palace loomed ahead, and they swung open although Quynn didn't see any servants. Nor did Quynn see the usual assortment of Calabrians bowing and scraping to the spoiled crown prince. Quynn turned her head to look behind them, expecting to see her brother, but Taeron was curiously absent.

"Where are the servants?" she asked Amyr. He was leading her through a large receiving hall towards an elegant, curved staircase. "And where is your imperial guard? It's not like Taeron to be derelict in his duty."

Amyr didn't answer her right away as they mounted the steps, and they continued upwards for several moments in silence before he said, "You are right, Quynn, Taeron is very diligent, perhaps too diligent. A man would be a fool to cross him."

"A complete dumb ass," agreed Quynn. "He is so fanatical about his training that I don't think even a battalion of warriors would stand a chance against him."

"Not even the army of an entire planet."

Quynn thought his response was strange, but she didn't really want to hear any more about Taeron. "He's around," she concluded aloud. Taeron would not disturb them, but he would not leave Amyr without protection.

"The servants are not here to socialize with us," Amyr said to Quynn as he opened the door to a suite. Did he think of Taeron as a servant? Her brother had grown up with Amyr in the imperial household and Quynn knew how seriously he took his role as Amyr's imperial guard. From the relationship that her father had with the emperor, she had assumed that the bond between an imperial guard and the man he protect was closer than that of servant and master. Amyr was letting slip feelings of resentment towards Taeron that Quynn did not understand. Had she seen it and not acknowledged it? Was her mind opening to show her what she had missed?

"This is our time to be alone together," Amyr told her. "The servants will provide necessities, but they would not dare to be seen."

"Not even the pretty ones?" she asked with a raised brow as she stepped in. Calabrian females had all but thrown themselves in Amyr's path and if she were to judge by his knowledge of a woman's pleasure, he had not stepped over them.

Amyr did not respond to her remark although he smiled enigmatically.

Quynn pondered the implication as she looked around the room. The bed of pillows and cushions on the floor was probably larger than it needed to be, especially for what they would be doing. Then again the crown prince probably demanded such ostentatious surroundings. There was a large balcony, and a door leading to the bathing chamber which Quynn wanted to put to use now. When she tried to excuse herself from Amyr to do so, he thought it was a good idea, and so Quynn found out why those Calabrian bathing pools were such a cozy size for two.

When they finished their bath, he carried her to the bed where they both fell into an exhausted, contented sleep. Time had no meaning in this idyllic palace presiding over the sacred hills. Food miraculously appeared left by silent, invisible servants. Gradually her skepticism wore away, and Quynn came to realize that she was not hallucinating. Amyr told her that she had slipped in the garden the night of their oath ceremony, that her mother worried that she had a concussion. She did not tell Amyr about her strange dream of fleeing Calabria and ultimately becoming a prisoner. She had not met and befriended the alien, Malya, and the bracelet she wore on her wrist had been his gift to her after they had drank from the bonding cup. She had no memory of the ceremony, nor of the wedding banquet. Soon enough Quynn didn't care if it was a dream because this honeymoon with Amyr had become her reality.

After countless days spent in Amyr's arms, Quynn was ready to forgive him for the transgression she did remember, that must have led to her slipping in the garden as she fled the sight of him with another woman and when she told him that she remembered it clearly, he did not deny it.

"If you would have remained but a moment longer, you would have seen me send her away," he told her. "But you ran away and in your haste and distress, you slipped and hit your head on a stone before Taeron could reach you." He raised her face to his. "You should have trusted me."

"I was foolish," she admitted drowsily as she cuddled against him amongst the pillows. The night was warm, and a cooling breeze made the curtains on the doorway to the balcony flutter gently in the moonlight.

Amyr didn't respond although she knew he was awake.

She stretched up against him and looked into his eyes, and even in the moonlight she could see the liquid amber of his gaze. She had remembered them as soft brown, but now they seemed to glow. "I love you, Amyr."

A slight smile curved his lips. "You don't have to get carried away, Quynn."

It had taken a lot for her to say that to him after what they had just spoken of. He had violated her trust, and if she had not hit her head and scrambled her senses, would she have still married him? "Haven't I proven my feelings for you?" She had not held anything back from him these last few days.

But Amyr shrugged. "I knew that we would be compatible, that you would respond to me as you have."

"Compatible," she repeated, suddenly feeling light-headed and heavy hearted.

"I am going to be spending the rest of my life with only you as my mate, so the fact that mating with you isn't going to be unpleasant is a delightful surprise."

"What…what are you saying?" Quynn had hoped that he would echo her feelings for him. Hadn't he said that he cared for her? Could he not tell her that he loved her as well?

Amyr sat up, and Quynn rose to face him. His brows were together. "I didn't realize that you considered this a love match!"

Quynn was dumbfounded. Of course she had!

He ran a hand through his hair. "I knew from the moment my father discovered your existence that I should seal the family tie with Lord Duo by taking you as my mate. When I first met you, I thought that might be impossible. I had never met a more exasperating female! You were too bold and you never showed me the proper respect, but as I got to know you, I realized that I liked those qualities about you. Marriage to you would be beneficial to everyone. You would always be near your parents if you married me; Lord Duo's house would be joined with the imperial house, and not only would I get my father and mother off my back, I would gain Lord Duo as my father by marriage. He has been more father to me than my own."

A cold shiver ran down her spine and a hot one ran back up, igniting her fury as she had never felt it before. "Are you telling me that you didn' marry me because you love me?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "I might fall in love with you some day. For now I cannot imagine being with another female. Isn't that enough?"

The metal of the bracelet felt like what she imagined molten gold might, and a strange pulsing from the stones seemed to match the rhythm of her pounding, broken heart. "So what we have been doing here day and night had nothing to do with love?"

"People mate all the time," he told her with a shrug. "I have done this act many times with many different females. What were you expecting on your…your….what was the word? Honeymoon?"

Quynn felt dizzy and she found that the power of speech had abandoned her.

"What is that?" Amyr suddenly cried, looking past her towards the window.

Quynn turned to follow his gaze and saw what appeared to be the outline of a dragon in one of the moons. The enormous creature was advancing toward the castle. "I don't know." The bracelet was throbbing with her pulse, erratically with fear and sorrow. Her heart ached as if a blade had been thrust into it.

The dragon threw back its head and roared before it let loose a stream of white hot breath that scorched the trees in its path.

"Quynn?" Amyr was backing away from her. "Did you call that beast?"

Quynn watched the dragon and she realized with a shock that it was somehow connected to her. How could this be happening?

"It is going to kill me!" She tore her gaze from the approaching dragon and saw Amyr stumbling back away from the window.

"Why don't you call Taeron to protect you?" Why was her brother not there already?

Suddenly, before her eyes, Amyr dissolved into thin air just as the dragon landed on the balcony which crumbled under its weight. Quynn turned to look at it, and part of her wished it would put an end to her miserable existence. But the beast inclined its head, and she noted that its eyes were the same mysterious color of the stones set in her bracelet. Their eyes locked for several moments, and the tie between them seemed even stronger before it spread its wings and took flight, soaring so high that it disappeared into the light of the moon.


	9. Chapter 9 Norvana

**Chapter 9**

"Jeshed." The word came to her lips and although she had never heard it before, she realized it was a name. The name of the dragon.

"She's awake now." The woman's voice sounded as if it had come from far away.

"Good. Maybe we can get some answers to our questions."

Opening her eyes, Quynn blinked several times before she could focus. Awareness came to her slowly and her body felt numb, but that numbness began to wear away quickly so that she could raise her head and she saw that she was lying on a padded slab with a thin sheet covering her naked body. Looking around, she moaned with pain as the bright light from a window assaulted her eyes and she closed them before she could look at whoever was speaking over her.

"Close the draperies, my dear, Carrinda."

"Yes, my lord." Quynn heard the rustling of fabric before she dared to open her eyes, and this time she could keep them open long enough to see a woman who appeared to be human moving away from a window that was now covered.

"Can you hear me?"

Quynn turned her head to look at the man. At first she thought he might be Amyr, but that was because his hair and eyes were dark like Amyr, but once she focused she realized he was a much older man, that he was not quite human. His eyes reminded her of a serpent and his skin appeared to covered with very fine scales, but as he stroked his chin, he appeared human in every other way, a very attractive human.

He was waiting for her answer, so she nodded.

"Why is she moving her head like that?" he asked the woman who had come to the bed. "Is there something wrong with the language implant?"

The woman he had referred to as Carrinda came forward, and she reached down to sift her fingers into Quynn's hair. As she searched along her scalp for a moment, Quynn studied her. Carrinda was very beautiful, with long dark brown hair that she had tucked behind ears that were slightly pointed. She was darker skinned than Quynn, darker even than the alien man, and there were markings on her face that Quynn thought at first were tatoos, but the intricate scrollwork designs pulsed as she touched a tender spot behind Quynn's ear and she initially gasped from the pain, but it quickly dissipated.

"I think there is no problem with the implant. Apparently, my lord Mordrad, her culture uses gestures in their speech also, be they different from out own."

Lord Mordrad came closer to the bed. Quynn didn't sense any danger from either the man or the woman. They seemed to be trying to help her. "Woman, you have been unconscious for several days. Carrinda has patiently nursed you, so you owe her thanks."

"Where…where am I?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Carrinda offered her a cup of water, and Quynn drank as Lord Mordrad explained. "You are on the planet Norvana. Your ship crashed in one of my pastures several days ago and I brought you here for Carrinda to care for."

"My ship…where is my ship?" Quynn's only hope of returning home was by her ship.

"Your ship is safe. One of my men is working on it although he tells me that it needs extensive repairs. He is impressed by the design." He sighed. "Your landing was not smooth. Some of the parts will have to be ordered from a supply barge that does return to Norvana for several more months."

"Months!" Quynn felt sick to realize she would not be returning to her home any time soon.

Carrinda offered her the cup from which Quynn drank but then regretted immediately when she realized there was a bitter aftertaste and she knew that she had been given a drug.

"You are not feeling well yet," she explained when Quynn looked at her. "You need to rest."

Only a moment passed before Quynn felt as if she were floating and she no longer cared about returning home. She could hear Carrinda and Lord Mordrad speaking in the hall although they seemed so far away.

"She's a beautiful woman, Carrinda, now that you have cleaned her up."

"Do you have something planned for her?"

"Not at the moment, but she may prove useful."

A moment of silence passed, then she heard Carrinda say, "Not now, Mordrad. She may yet be awake."

"Do you think I care? I want to be with you, Carrinda."

Their voices trailed away as Quynn drifted into a sleep that was dreamless. How much time passed before she awoke, she did not know, but she realized she was feeling stronger. Carrinda had been right about needing rest. Quynn often suspected a person of saying that to the sick so that they wouldn't have to be bothered with them for a while, at least that is what she was sure of when her mother had said it when she was a child.

Her mother! Tears came to Quynn's eyes as she thought about how her parents must be feeling. By now they has realized that she had not gone back to L12 and that she was missing so they must think she was dead. Lord Duo might attempt to send a ship to the frontier, but Quynn had taken the only Calabrian spaceship capable of making such a long voyage reasonable. Stupid! She had been so blindly jealous and hurt that her actions had caused others pain! Her heart ached for all the people who mourned her.

The bracelet on her wrist was emanating warmth again. Curious, she lifted her hand to study the golden bangle, and as she did, she thought of the dream in which the dragon had arrived to chase off the one demon in her life. Was it possible that she had summoned the creature in her dream? If it were true, then did Malya steal this bracelet or did she lie about her past? Whatever the truth, Quynn could not remove the bracelet.

Before she could think any further on the subject, the door creaked open and Carrinda entered carrying a tray. The smile the exotically beautiful woman gave Quynn conveyed warmth and kindness that instantly earned her trust. "I heard you stir and thought you might be hungry."

Quynn struggled to sit up and felt a dull ache in her head. She reached up to touch the spot that had been tender. "Did I hit my head again?" she asked. Under her fingers she felt a tiny disk that seemed to be attached to her skin. "What is this?"

Carrinda came to the bed, and after setting the tray on a small table, she gently pulled Quynn's hand away. "You will get used to it. Removing it will cause no small amount of pain, and once that subsides, you will not be able to understand me."

Lord Mordrad had referred to it as a translator implant and Quynn remembered that Malya had one as well. "Is this how I can understand you?"

"Yes," Carrinda answered as she offered Quynn what appeared to be bread. Although it was coarse in texture, Quynn thought it was tasty and found it quite filling. "You mumbled a great deal when they pulled you from the wreckage of your ship, so Lord Mordrad had the chip implanted immediately. Some research had to be made to determine the language you used, but eventually a close relative of one of the languages you apparently know was found in the database and it was programmed into the chip."

"Calabrian," she said aloud.

"Calabrian? No, I believe it was an old form of the language of the planet Zayron, the forbidden planet." Carrinda raised her brows. "How is it that you speak the language of those people?"

"I am not from that planet," Quynn told her with a frown. "I do not even know…" Quynn suddenly realized that the language she had spoken must have been Malya's. Like the Guerani, did Malya pass her essence into Quynn in that moment before she died when she had placed the bracelet on her arm? Or was the bracelet responsible for her knowledge? What else had Maya bequeathed upon her without her knowledge or consent?

Carrinda smiled at her. "You are still confused. I think you need more rest. According to Mordrad, you will have plenty of time to recover. Your ship won't be going anywhere any time soon."

The other woman left her alone, and Quynn wasted no time in filling her belly. The food on this planet was a bit more palatable than the fare on Calabria. Although Quynn hadn't found anything wrong with the Calabrian cuisine, this was more like the food on Earth, so Quynn felt more at ease in eating. Once she was done, she worked at the bracelet again, but she could find no catch on it to release it from her arm. After what seemed like hours of futility, Quynn finally gave up. She had no way of removing the bracelet without cutting it off, so she resolved to ask Carrinda if there was some way of doing so when they next spoke.

Carrinda thought the request odd. "I assumed it to be a treasured bauble."

Quynn understood how she could believe that because the bracelet was beautiful. "It does not belong to me. I am afraid it may…" She paused wondering if she was going to sound deranged to Carrinda, but she decided to forge ahead. "I am afraid it may hold powers I do not know how to control." She thought of the dragon of her dream and she shivered. Quynn wondered again what else the bracelet was doing to her if she could speak and understand a language she had never heard.

The other woman did not laugh at her. "What sort of powers?"

Taking heart that Carrinda didn't seem surprised, she repeated the story Malya had told her shortly before her death. Carrinda listened sympathetically, and when Quynn finished, Carrinda said, "You may not agree with me, but I believe you have been bequeathed a gift by Malya of Zayron. There are very few summoners in our part of space anymore, but she sounds as if she was one."

Quynn wondered if Malya had lied about what had happened to her. She accused her husband's lover of being a summoner, but she had not admitted to possessing the same ability.

"Are you afraid of magic?" asked Carrinda.

"I know Guerani healers," Quynn told her.

"There are no more Guerani in this part of space," Carrinda told her.

"Then the few that remain are on Calabria and Bayman in the binary system," remarked Quynn. "Are they feared?"

Carrinda laughed softly. "I am the last person who might frightened, either by Guerani or by summoners." She lifted her hand and pulled back her dark hair to show her the elaborate tattoo outlining her face. "I wield many magics."

Magic! Quynn closed her eyes to the madness. Surely she had bumped her head and was now living out one of her grandfather's virtual fantasy games.

Carrinda smiled as she rose from the side of the bed. "You need your rest. When you are feeling better, Lord Mordrad will escort you to your craft where you can do a thorough inventory of what you might need."

Quynn didn't feel well enough to leave the bed for several days after which her head finally stopped hurting from the implant. Carrinda informed her that there were many different languages spoken in the village alone, but Quynn would be able to understand those and many more she might encounter in this region of space because of the implant. Quynn would be able to go anywhere in this system and she would be understood – apparently her own implant transmitted her language code to others – and she would understand anyone. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the discomfort of having or knowing that the device was attached to her. Eventually she knew she would probably forget about it.

Once she didn't feel too dizzy, she visited her ship with the affable Lord Mordrad, a flirt and a rogue, who teased her mercilessly about her lack of piloting skill. She wondered if she should believe him when he told her that he expected to be repaid for the damage she had done his fields. After a quick inspection of the landing site, Quynn was surprised both she and the craft had survived. A huge strip of land had been torn asunder, trees knocked down and boulders dislodged. Her grandfather had designed the craft, and knowing that she was going to pilot it, he had used the strongest materials and safest design. If he were any less than a genius, she would have been crushed on impact with the surface.

As it was, her craft was in need of repair. The hull had been dented and scratched and looked like a can that had been kicked around. Still, it was in one piece with no compromise in structural integrity. Unfortunately, so many circuits suffered on the inside that Quynn thought it would be impossible to salvage. Lord Mordrad, however, employed an army of technicians, for what purpose she wasn't sure, who insisted that with the proper materials and time, they could fix anything.

Because she knew all there was to know about the ship and its design, she spent the next couple of weeks with Mordrad's men helping them catalog the damage to the ship's internal systems and making a list of supplies to purchase to repair it. During that time, Quynn came to realize that Lord Mordrad was a respected landowner, well-loved by his villagers and the people of his estate, not the least his kind wife, Lena, mother of his three grown children who were on living and working on other worlds. Lena and Carrinda were dear friends so Quynn concluded that the relationship between them was similar to the old Calabrian custom of taking concubines. Having decided that Mordrad's relationship with both women was oddly special, Quynn was surprised to see him with another woman, then another and another. Apparently he didn't believe in exclusive relationships. Just another Amyr.

Carrinda had been visiting the village with Quynn one day when they saw Mordrad trying to coax yet another female into his arms. Quynn was afraid Carrinda would be angry, but the other woman did not even seem to notice as she continued along her way to the market without commenting. Later Quynn brought up the incident, wondering still what Carrinda thought.

The other woman seemed surprised. "I have no hold on Mordrad, nor he on me." She laughed. "He's just a bit of fun now and then."

Quynn didn't detect any false bravado in the other woman. "I could not be so blithe with my affections as you." She thought of Amyr with the serving girl and she shuddered. No, Quynn could not share her man, and because Amyr didn't seem to want an exclusive relationship….

What the hell was she thinking?! She was unlikely to ever see Amyr again! Quynn was trapped! Trapped on another planet in a galaxy far away from Calabrian space, and by the time she returned back to where she belonged, Amyr would be married to another foolish woman with children around his feet.

The supply ship arrived several weeks later than expected, and the manager couldn't promise he would be able to find everything she needed, but he assured her that he would do his best, especially for Lord Mordrad. Many people would bend over backwards for Mordrad, so Quynn counted herself fortunate that her ship crashed on his land.

Dejected, Quynn returned to Carrinda's cottage where she had been living now for what would be a couple of months. Quynn really had no way of marking the passage of time. Even her biological clock seemed to have stopped working because she hadn't had to worry about what she was going to do when the time came to take care of her more personal monthly needs. Now she found Carrinda standing behind her cottage, her hand to her head as she mumbled a spell, and Quynn held her breath as the wind suddenly picked up around them.

Sensing her presence, Carrinda ended the spell and walked to Quynn. "I was practicing. Lord Mordrad has received a request for our help."

"What kind of help?" asked Quynn curiously.

"We are hunters," she told Quynn.

"Hunters?" Quynn pictured in her mind, unruly bears and snakes.

"Creatures that sometimes defy explanation," said Carrinda. "We do what little we can to drive them away from innocent people."

"You and Mordrad?"

Carrinda laughed. "Don't be silly! We have several people in our group, people of many different skills. I have the ability to use magic."

"Is it an ability you were born with?" asked Quynn curiously as she sat on a nearby stump. She felt strangely tired and a little dizzy. When had she become such a lightweight?

Carrinda came to sit beside her. "We all have an innate magic ability, but few can tap it. You have seen it in the Guerani who have the ability to heal and nurture. I have spent many years learning to perfect many magics, including healing spells that are very powerful. Unfortunately I do not have the psychic powers of a Guerani." She took Quynn's hand. "I do not need them to know that you are not feeling well. You have spent far too much time doing useless work at your ship when you should be resting."

"I am recovered from the crash," Quynn told her. Yet she did feel tired.

"I am not talking about your injuries." Carrinda smiled at her strangely, as if they were now sharing a secret. Quynn felt oddly uncomfortable and more than a little apprehensive. "Go in and take a nap. When you awaken, I will have a good meal for you. You haven't eaten much lately either."

The food hadn't been as agreeable to Quynn's digestion as she first thought, and she hoped that Carrinda didn't know that each morning Quynn's stomach emptied what she had eaten the night before. Now she didn't have the will or energy to do anything other than what Carrinda suggested.

She didn't wake until evening, and she saw that Carrinda had left her a dried crust of bread and a pitcher of water. Quynn's stomach was rebelling so she was glad that Carrinda was able to sense the bland nourishment was all she could handle. The aroma of whatever Carrinda had cooked earlier was making her queasy, so she waited until her stomach settled before she grabbed the bread and moved to the window. The open air felt good, and for a moment she could believe she was on Calabria because there were two moons in the sky, but soon enough another moon rose.

Unbidden, memories of the dream of Amyr came to her mind. She would rather just forget, the dream in which Amyr took her to the heavens then threw her right off their cloud. Her heart ached as she thought of the words he said that had ended the dream. Quynn had loved him and he hadn't felt anything toward her but his obligation to please the imperial court! Amyr didn't have to say that he was making the best of what he probably considered an unpleasant situation. He hadn't wanted to give up his freedom, but he was doing what he felt he had to and she was heartsick to know that she was just an obligation. While it had been a dream, her subconscious had put all the facts together and presented to her the conclusion she would not consciously draw because of her feelings for him. She hurt now even more than when she had seen him in the garden with another woman.

Voices below her window drew her attention, and Quynn noticed that a handful of men sat around a fire with Carrinda and Lord Mordrad. They were discussing their upcoming trip with enthusiasm. Apparently they had been on Norvana for several months resting after their last mission. Poking her head out the window, Quynn saw that the men were sharpening all manner of weapons while Carrinda sat perched on Mordrad's lap with an unrolled scroll.

"This is useless," Mordrad's voice carried. "My magic will never be as strong as yours."

"There is one magic of yours that is very strong," joked one of his men.

Mordrad barked with laughter. "That kind of magic isn't going to do us much good in battle!"

They all laughed including Carrinda. Quynn even smiled as she thought of his ease at seducing women.

"What about the new girl?" queried another of his men. "She is a summoner. That could be very handy for us."

Quynn realized that they were talking about her. Did they expect her to join their monster hunting expeditions? And why did he think she was a summoner?

Mordrad wanted to know as well. "How do you know she is a summoner?"

"She wears a summoner's band."

"Such a thing is myth!" exclaimed another.

"I've seen it with my own eyes!"

Mordrad snorted. "There hasn't been contact with Zayron for hundreds of years, not since the barrier was erected by the Zayron government to keep everyone out. Even then the existence of summoners was only a rumor."

"The legends record Prince Raygo finding such a woman and using her to subdue his people."

"Until he cast her off."

"And she retaliated, but I don't remember the details of that part of the legend."

That was too bad, thought Quynn, because she was coming to realize that Malya had not been truthful with her.

A moment of silence followed in which Quynn imagined they thought about the legend. She hoped someone remembered more, but not one spoke until Carrinda said, "Regardless of her summoning ability, I have determined that Quynn has the potential for strong fire magic."

Quynn was surprised. Magic? Her?

"Then why haven't you been training her?" demanded one of the men. "We could use another sorceress!"

"I won't be able to train her for some time. She is with child, and I am afraid that dabbling in magics will do the babe harm."

With child? Quynn backed away from the window, dizziness making her stumble. That was not possible! She had never even been with a man! Carrinda must be mistaken!

Yet as Quynn fell weakly back onto the bed, she knew the facts supported Carrinda's belief. Quynn was exhibiting all the signs of impending motherhood although one very important factor was missing, and that was a father. How could she be having a baby?! Aside from her dream, Amyr had never been intimate with her thanks to Taeron's vigilance, and Quynn hadn't even been close with any of the men she had dated on L12 while finishing her tour of duty for the Cinq Kingdom.

Then Quynn remembered Malya's last comment about a child and her subsequent apology when she had taken her to that shrouded place and put the bracelet on her wrist.

With horror, Quynn realized what Malya had done to her. She would probably never understand how, but she certainly understood the vengeance that answered why. Quynn was carrying Malya's child!


	10. Chapter 10 Oath to the emperor

**Chapter 10**

Doors quickly swung open to receive him, but despite all the time that passed since he was last here in the imperial palace, Taeron still felt like an impostor as guard saluted him and imperial nobles nodded to him in deference, albeit grudgingly. Although he walked with a brisk gait and kept his gaze straight ahead, he was aware that imperial females took steps towards him to catch his attention, but they fell back when he showed no interest. The female servants were more aggressive and obvious in their offers, but he ignored them as well. By the gods, he would rather be back on Varoonya where few approached him without invitation.

Being back on Calabria and the imperial palace brought back too many memories. His work on Varoonya kept him busy enough to keep from thinking too much about Amyr's betrayal and his own failure. But now that he was back on Calabria, the hurt was as acute as when he first realized that the man he had risked his life to protect had turned on him with treachery.

Outside the emperor's private apartments he found the crown prince waiting for him and Prince Staefyn greeted him with a hug. "You are looking well, Lord Taeron."

Although he winced at hearing his title, he responded, "As do you, my lord prince." Taeron bowed to the eldest prince. "You still have not chosen an imperial guard?"

The other man frowned. "There is no one I would rather have than you, Taeron, but my parents will not allow it." His gaze strayed to the sword Taeron wore along with the one his father had given him. The sword of the crown prince should be Staefyn's, but Taeron had carried it since he had pried it from Amyr's charred grasp. If it were up to Taeron, he would hand the sword to Staefyn now, but he would not until Staefyn's mother rescinded her request that he carry it.

Hearing that the emperor and his wife refused Staefyn's request to accept him as his imperial guard bothered Taeron, but he expected it. Taeron had already proved he could not be trusted with the safety of the crown prince, so why would they put Staefyn's life in his care? For now Staefyn was safe enough. The common people and the imperial nobility liked Staefyn and everywhere he went he was greeted with affection. Amyr could have had such approval from the people, but he chose to be arrogant and self-serving.

"Should they ever change their mind, I would be honored to be your imperial guard, my lord prince." Taeron bowed his head to him.

Staefyn grinned at him. "We don't need to use titles, do we Taeron?"

Taeron returned his smile. "No, we don't." He caught himself wondering why he had abandoned his friendship with Staefyn. As children they had spent most of their time following in Amyr's shadow, and Amyr never appreciated their company. He could not remember the exact moment when Staefyn drew away to pursue his own interests, but Taeron knew it was during his training at Edgeland Fortress.

"Why has your father recalled me from Varoonya?," he asked, shaking off thoughts of the past. "Have I displeased him?"

"That is a question you will have to ask him," Staefyn replied, but Taeron suspected the young prince knew exactly why Taeron had made the three week trip from Varoonya where he served as imperial governor.

The door to the emperor's chamber opened and Taeron heard his name announced by the guard at the door, and when he entered, Staefyn accompanied him. Taeron was somewhat surprised to see Lady Arora waiting with Emperor Trey, so he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being ambushed. What had he done wrong? Or could they be relenting now to allow him the opportunity to serve Staefyn? His hopes raised and he glanced at Staefyn who stood back as his mother came to greet Taeron.

She took his hands and kissed his cheeks. "You don't have to be so worried," she whispered in his ear.

Of course she had used her powers to discern his feelings! Doing so was second nature to her. Many still feared and reviled the remaining Guerani, and yet Taeron had become comfortable with their powers after spending so much time with Shamara and her mother and his mother's husband. He would not consider Amyr a true Guerani because he had misued his powers.

Taeron moved past Lady Arora to bow to the emperor, and Trey was smiling as he rose. He did not trust that smile. What was going to happen to him now?

"Taeron, I wasn't expecting you for another few days."

"I had few arrangements to make before leaving," Taeron told him. In truth, he had rushed through the arrangements of leaving an interim governor and settling unfinished business. He had a niggling fear that the emperor was recalling him to Calabria for something he had failed to do. After what happened to Amyr, Taeron would not give the emperor another excuse to lose faith in him. He would not shame his father's house again!

"That is a testament to your efficient governance." Trey rubbed his hands together, then took Taeron's arm and led him to a chair. "I imagine you are confused about why I sent for you."

The emperor's friendliness rang false with Taeron and the hairs at the back of his neck were rising. If he were in a battle he would have drawn his sword by now. His hope that they were going to allow him to be Staefyn's imperial guard dissipated rapidly.

"I've decided to give Staefyn a chance to prove himself capable of governing," the emperor surprised him by saying. "Because you have oiled the wheels of the Varoonyan government well and eradicated any threat to the stability of the planet, I thought turning the reigns of the government over to Staefyn would be an excellent opportunity for him to spread his wings."

Taeron tried not to show how disappointed he was that his post was being given to Staefyn, and he desperately tried not to feel resentful when Staefyn had not even blooded his sword. Staefyn was the emperor's son and had a right to rule in his father's name. Taeron's position on Varoonya would have only been temporary anyway because he had already been named Lord Duo's successor on Ulfynaeus. Yet Taeron had worked hard these last few years to make Varoonya an asset to the Calabrian empire and he balked at having to relinquish his command to Staefyn even if he did like the prince.

"Don't have such a long face, Taeron!" Trey patted him on the back. "I have something more important for you to do."

Taeron looked up at his face and he watched the smile fade from the emperor's lips. Taeron swallowed nervously as he tried to think of anything he might have done wrong in the two years since he had left Calabria.

"You are frightening him," scolded Lady Arora with a frown at her husband.

"I think the prospect of what I am about to order him to do is frightening him." Trey leaned in closer so that they were almost nose to nose. "I think you have neglected to do something very important, Taeron."

Taeron searched his mind for the oversight. He had submitted regular, thorough reports. He had subdued the Varoonyan rebels, making agreements with many of them to the mutual satisfaction of Calabria and the petty Varoonyan lords that had seized control after their overlords had been eliminated. He had implemented changes in the society so that the ranks of the wretched poor had dwindled dramatically during his governance as their agriculture flourished enough to begin exports. Where once the Calabrian Empire was cursed, it was now welcomed. Staefyn would be as well-loved there as well as here. What had he not done to satisfy the emperor?

Frowning, he admitted, "I have been unable to account for warlord Kai." Taeron knew the villain was hiding on Varoonya because his thralls still caused problems, but the warlord stayed one step ahead of him.

Trey waved his hand. "A problem for later, Taeron." The emperor snorted and looked at his wife. "He has put it so far out of his mind that he cannot even remember." Trey raised a brow. "I believe you have forgotten the little matter of a princess named Dijana."

Princess Dijana! Taeron felt his stomach churn unpleasantly. He cleared his throat to speak, then it tightened as he couldn't find the words to apologize for the oversight.

"Well, Taeron?" Trey straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. "You signed the marriage contracts when I sent them to Varoonya and I forwarded them to Teralon where the princess signed them."

Taeron had not given the contracts any thought, nor had he read them. He suspected his scribe of tricking him to sign them even though Taeron would not have refused. They had been discussing funding a building project in the city and Taeron had assumed he was signing a requisition for materials. It wasn't until after he had signed the document that the scribe informed him that he had signed the marriage contract and he proceeded to read it to him. He did not point out to the scribe that he should have been allowed to read it before signing it. The older man was too gleeful by far over his triumph. Taeron guessed that the emperor had personally instructed him to slip the marriage contracts under his nose.

"Give me your oath, Taeron. Princess Dijana has given hers."

His heart was thumping wildly in his chest, and he looked to Staefyn for support. He was not sure why he had looked at Staefyn except that it felt natural although they had long ago ceased to be confidantes. Staefyn started, glanced anxiously at his parents, but then he smiled at Taeron with encouragement. Taeron's panic eased.

"Scribe!" Trey called over his shoulder and for the first time Taeron realized his brother had been standing in the shadows, his arms folded over his chest as he watched.

His brother was smirking as he approached and Taeron felt the crushing weight of duty as he realized his brother was there in his official capacity.

"Speak!" barked Trey impatiently.

Taeron glanced at Arora who was frowning at her husband, but she did not say anything. Staefyn also remained silent.

He took a breath. "I vow on the honor..."

"On the honor of my house," Trey warned him.

By the gods! An oath on the emperor's house?

Taeron swallowed nervously. "I vow on the honor of my emperor's house ..."

"And Calabria."

The oath was far more formal than usual! What could he expect when he was marrying the heir to the throne of Teralon? "I vow on the honor of my emperor's house and on the honor of Calabria, to take Princess Dijana of Teralon as my wife." Taeron's knees were weak and he was perspiring profusely. By the gods! He had just taken a wife!

The emperor rubbed it in. "To complete this union, I order you to go to Teralon to get your bride. You have been insultingly remiss in honoring the agreement I made with Queen Neria."

"He has been busy," spoke up Staefyn.

"Two years of busy! I cannot abide that tired excuse anymore!" Trey slammed his hand down on his desk, startling Taeron. "Gods take you, Taeron, you are like a son to me! But now I must be your emperor. I am relieving you of your position on Varoonya so that you can begin your house with Princess Dijana. Regardless of your feelings on the subject, she has a right to be a wife before her child-bearing years pass her by."

"I don't think she is in that sort of danger," admonished Lady Arora as she went to place a calming hand on Trey's. She smiled kindly at Taeron. "I told you that you didn't have anything to fear. Once you have gone to Teralon and claimed your bride, you may return to Calabria with your wife. In the meantime, Staefyn can learn how to govern from the excellent staff you have employed on Varoonya. This is an excellent opportunity for him."

"Indeed," agreed Trey, putting a hand on Staefyn's shoulder. Taeron would not resent Staefyn for benefiting from his hard work. "I did not know how I was going to get you away from Varoonya, but I like Staefyn's idea."

Staefyn's idea? He had Staefyn to thank for this?

Staefyn smiled as Taeron struggled not to scowl at him. "My own intended wife will be preparing for our wedding while I am gone. I will be glad not to be around for that."

Wife? "You are to be married?"

The emperor snorted. "He has spent a fortune outfitting Guerani Palace for the female, so I expect it to be done soon or he will bankrupt my treasury with her demands."

Taeron looked at Staefyn and for a moment they said nothing as their eyes met. The prince made him feel anxious, and he wondered if Staefyn had been the one to refuse Taeron as his imperial guard. "Can I meet your bride? Is she here?"

"She is a clanswoman," his father said with annoyance. "I have not met her either."

"They are very strict," Arora pointed out.

Taeron did not need to be told since there were many clans on the moon his father governed. And since they were protective of their women, Taeron wondered how Staefyn had managed to court one. Even more perplexing was Staefyn's acceptance by the female's clan when the clans did not recognize the emperor. If Meridon would give his oath, the others would follow, but he had chosen exile and those that did not leave Calabria, often moved their camps so the imperial patrols could not find them in the hills.

"You will travel with Staefyn," Trey told him.

Taeron nodded. "It is good that I get him settled on Varoonya before …."

Staefyn shook his head to cut him off, but it had not been soon enough.

"You are not returning to Varoonya!" roared Trey angrily. He shook off his wife when she tried to calm him. "I have made an agreement with Queen Neria and I demand that you fulfill your part immediately or the consequences may mean war."

Taeron was ready to fight. He doubted the imperial warriors would care what excuse would give them the opportunity to pick up their swords again, even if it was to raise them against the pathetic winged warriors that could not protect their planet from the Varoonyans.

"I see that look, Taeron." Trey's voice was ominous. "There will be no war because you are unwilling to take a female into your house. You will leave for Teralon tomorrow."

"I was hoping to visit my parents," he started.

"That can wait until your wife is plump with your child." Trey waved his hand. "You are dismissed."

The emperor had never spoken to him in that tone, but Taeron knew he deserved it, and as he turned to leave, he caught sympathetic glances from both Staefyn and Arora. Staefyn might have accompanied him, but Taeron heard the emperor order him to stay.

As he walked away from the imperial family's apartments, he tried to justify not claiming the princess sooner. There was bad blood between Varoonya and Teralon. The two planets had fought numerous wars in the previous centuries and while travel between them took only a few days and they could see each other in the night sky, they had no contact with each other. Taeron could not have governed effectively on Varoonya if he brought Princess Dijana to the planet. He had been able to maintain peace through his own impartiality and he doubted he would be perceived as impartial if he had a Teralonian mate, the heir to the throne no less.

There was nothing stopping him from taking her now that Trey had given control of Varoonya to his crown prince. Princess Dijana was his wife in name, by contract and through his spoken oath, an oath so binding that Taeron was hurt by the emperor's mistrust.

Soon she would be his wife in fact.

Taeron felt sick to his stomach.

"Brother!" Taeron looked up to see Stryfe approaching him. He wondered what the emperor discussed with Staefyn, but he would not ask Stryfe to betray the emperor's confidence. Because Stryfe had been dismissed, he guessed the discussion in the emperor's chambers was personal, probably about that elusive female that Staefyn was hiding in the hills.

"Did you know why I was recalled to Calabria?" Taeron asked his brother.

Stryfe chuckled. "Well, we couldn't belong to the same house and not know. I was actually with our lord father when he was informed of Trey's decision." He did not need to say that he had discussed it thoroughly with the emperor before going to the moon so that he could be at his father's side when Trey informed Lord Duo why he was recalling his son from his post on Varoonya.

"I am sorry to have shamed my father's house," said Taeron earnestly. Never did he wish to bring any dishonor to Lord Duo's house, but that is all he seemed to do since becoming his acknowledged son. First he should have handled the business between Quynn and Amyr better, then he lost Amyr while under his protection. Now he was in trouble over the matter of his marriage.

"Don't sweat it! Father isn't angry." Stryfe laughed. "The emperor got mom's dander up. Since mom has discovered what bonding entails and the sickness it causes, she has adamantly opposed the practice and she tried to insist that you not be subjected to the ritual."

"I will bond with Princess Dijana," said Taeron. If she were to be his wife, he had no reason to refuse.

Except that he did not want a wife. Not now. Not one chosen for him.

Stryfe sighed. "You need to lighten up. Anyway, I will be accompanying you to Teralon."

Taeron eyed him suspiciously. "Are you my guard?"

His brother threw up his hands. "I am good with a sword, but not that good. No, the pen is my tool and I am to record the blessed event."

"Will you be entering my bedchamber to see that the deed is done properly?"

Stryfe blushed. "I won't have to, will I?"

So Stryfe was being sent as a spy! Taeron should have been outraged, but he knew that Trey had ample reason to believe Taeron might not do as ordered even after the oath he had given. "I guess not. I suppose I am trapped now."

"We leave tomorrow."

"What has my mother said about this?" High speed communications between Varoonya and Calabria had only recently been established due to the hard work of the engineers from Bayman who had deployed an imperial communications satellite that would serve Teralon and Varoonya. But Taeron had not heard from his mother in many months since receiving the last letter she had written to him.

His brother smiled. "Your mother wanted to accompany you to Teralon, and when the emperor refused, they had quite an argument." Now his brother laughed. "Let's just say that without Guerani mates to calm both of them, I think blood would have been drawn. She hasn't spoken to him in weeks, but I know for a fact that she is in frequent contact with Arora to whom she complains about his tyrannical behavior."

The only way Taeron would be able to smooth over those relations would be to bring his wife back to Calabria. At least he would not have to listen to his mother's instructions for his intimate moments with his wife.

He heard giggling further down the hall and looked away from Stryfe to see a handful of serving women watching them. Stryfe followed his gaze and he laughed again as he rubbed his hands together. "Tonight, we will have a bachelor party!"

"What is a bachelor party?" When Stryfe explained the human ritual, Taeron reminded him dryly that he was already married to Dijana.

Stryfe looked him in the eye. "Don't tell me you have been honoring your paper vows?"

Taeron frowned. "I made a vow, and I have kept it." Despite the opportunities, the many, many opportunities in many tempting forms, he had not been with a woman since the night he had failed in his duty to Amyr, and he had no memory of being with those Teralonian females either. Truth be told, before that night he had not dishonored females as blithely as the prince he had served. Although Amyr and Stryfe found nothing amiss in their casual use of females, Taeron could not do it after all that his mother had suffered at the hands of males. He would not dishonor a female.

"I have been busy."

His brother was amazed. Humans didn't seem to have the same instinct for monogamy that Calabrians did. There were few Calabrians who did not keep their vows, once made. That was why Amyr's sin was so great against Quynn that he had dishonored the imperial family.

Stryfe chuckled. "Then you must be very ready to get down to business with the princess."

Stryfe's sense of humor and quaint human remarks grated on his already frayed nerves. Taeron had great difficulty imagining his father behaving in such a manner although he had been told by many who knew Lord Duo in his youth that he had been a frivolous buffoon. Taeron simply could not believe the serious, efficient governor of the second Calabrian moon after whom he had modeled his own life could have behaved even remotely like his human son.

But Taeron was glad that Stryfe accompanied him with Staefyn on the small, imperial transport, one of the new vessels purchased from the human Cinq Kingdom, the same type of ship Quynn had stolen in her flight from marriage to Amyr although it was designed for shorter trips. Trey did not want to spare even a moment in getting him to Teralon. So the month-long trip was shortened to a week in the hyperspace shuttle. They met with a transport to Varoonya first and Taeron felt bereft when he parted ways with Staefyn knowing that there could be a potential problem with discontented Varoonyans, but he had to trust Trey to know what was best for his remaining eldest son.

When they finally began the approach to Teralonian space, they were hailed from the planet. Taeron wasn't surprised to recognize Prince Avar. "Greetings, Lord Taeron."

His tone was sarcastic. As his father would say, Taeron had burned his bridges on Teralon. "We will be arriving in about an hour."

"No need to make plans to land," said Avar. "You should soon encounter the royal barge. There you will find the women waiting."

Women? Taeron wasn't given a chance to ask who he was talking about, and it appeared that there would be no reprieve to prepare for a royal wedding on the planet. The Teralonians obviously did not trust him to flee, as if he could with all that was at stake. He dared not return to Calabria without his wife.

Why was his heart pounding erratically and his breathing becoming shallow? What was this feeling?

"Don't look so scared," warned Stryfe.

His gaze flew to his brother. "I am not frightened." Did his voice squeak?

"You could have fooled me." Stryfe appeared to be close to laughter.

This feeling could not be fear! He was trained as an imperial guard, he was a warlord who had fought many battles, therefore he could not be frightened!

"My lord, are you all right?" asked one of the ship pilots.

"I think he is going to vomit," remarked the other.

Taeron gritted his teeth and turned his attention back to Avar. "I would be honored…" The communication ended before Taeron could finish.

"He's pissed at you." remarked Stryfe.

"This does not bode well for you, my lord" remarked the same pilot who had spoken earlier.

"Indeed," spoke up another. "I would guess they are eager to quit themselves of the female."

"Females," corrected the first pilot. "I guess Lord Taeron is getting two when he won't be able to handle one."

Keldar and Danlaer. Taeron remembered now that they had been trained by his sister on the piloting of the hyperspace transport. He wanted to reprimand them, but he could not even speak.

Stryfe put a hand on his shoulder that he meant to be comforting, but Taeron's nerves were wound so tightly that he almost struck his brother. "Well, you did agree to marry her, and they have been eager to make this match. The emperor has been receiving urgent demands for you to claim your bride frequently this last year."

Why were they so eager to be rid of her? By the time they came to the rendezvous point with the Teralon ship, Taeron had already conjured up an image of his bride as a horrible she-beast to whom he was tied for life. The feelings of unbearable tension welled up inside him again when they were contacted and given instructions for docking with the ship. But that feeling was not fear!

"When you have pressurized the walkway between our ships, we will send the females to you."

"I will come aboard to meet them," said Taeron.

Once again he was rudely interrupted. "That will not be necessary. Dock your ship to ours, pressurize the walkway and be prepared to receive Princess Dijana." Before Taeron could question him, the communication ended. By the gods! These Teralonians were grossly insulting! He had assumed there would be a celebration and he would be able to meet with the queen, see Princess Chaela with whom he had spent his childhood or discuss trade agreements with Varoonya. Taeron expected to formally meet his bride at the very least. He would have worn one of the many elegant tunics his mother had sent with him. Instead he was dressed in a tunic that was plainer than his brother's garb.

Stryfe accompanied him to the docking bay, and as the movements of the ship as well as announcements from the bridge informed them of what actions were being taken, Taeron felt something wet slide down his cheek. He was amazed to realize he was sweating, that his hands were clammy as well. If he had to fight a battle in this shape, he would be unable to hold his sword.

"I pity you," snorted Stryfe, his eyes sparkling with merriment. He clearly did not mean his words.

The door to the walkway slid open, and Taeron thought he heard what amounted to a scuffle, but he was sure he had been mistaken when a moment later a woman stumbled out of the walkway. Before Taeron could reach her, she found her balance and he was the recipient of the most venomous look he had ever received in his life from eyes that shot green fire.

For a moment they stared at one another, then Taeron was aware of another woman exiting the walkway. While the first female had stumbled clumsily, this one stepped out smoothly and she paused to look first at Taeron, then she settled her gaze on his brother. She smiled prettily at Stryfe.

Taeron glanced at the first woman. She was tall, long limbed and without a spare ounce of fat to make her in the least soft. He noted that she carried some sort of weapon at her side, and if she could use the sharpened rings, perhaps she was the guard of the princess. She wasn't as beautiful as the latter, whom Taeron concluded was his wife, Dijana, but he found it difficult to take his eyes from her. Her hair, the color of the midday suns of Calabria, was shorn raggedly just below her ears. She wore a plain tunic belted at the waist that reached below her knees as it was too big for her. She wore baggy leggings that were tucked into boots.

His gaze returned to her face and he found her glaring at him.

"I hope your trip was uneventful, princess," Stryfe said to the other woman, and Taeron dragged his attention away from the first woman to look at the woman who was his wife by the agreement with the emperor to which he had agreed.

For a moment her blue eyes filled with confusion and she looked to the armed woman. Taeron found her meekness affected and unappealing although his brother was clearly charmed by the petite female. The princess reminded him of the imperial females at the emperor's court.

"The princess is unharmed, Lord Taeron," the other woman snapped at Stryfe.

Stryfe chuckled and was about to correct her, when Taeron spoke quickly. "Lord Taeron welcomes you to his ship." With his eyes he warned Stryfe to keep his mouth shut. Taeron wanted a little time to observe his wife and her mistaking his brother's identity gave him the means.

"Who are you?" demanded the other woman that Taeron deduced was Dijana's guard although he had heard nothing of female soldiers on Teralon, nor had he seen any female warriors in the time he had been there liberating the planet. Perhaps that was why Avar had not identified her.

Taeron cocked his head in Stryfe's direction. "I am his brother. And who are you?" By the gods, that was rude, but she did not inspire his best behavior.

The princess gave the other woman a warning glare before speaking. "She is my sister – my half-sister."

Half-sister. Well, that explained even more the reluctance of the Teralonians to mention the woman. Although he knew little of royal politics on Teralon, he did know that Queen Neria resided in a palace far from the royal court, so if her consort had strayed from his vows, it was surely as dishonorable as it was on Calabria. He wondered if the woman was expected to remain with her sister and he guessed that she was.

Taeron looked at the woman who was staring at Stryfe who, while making a very favorable impression on Dijana, seemed to have the opposite effect on her half-sister. "I, too, am a half-brother."

Her eyes turned to him. "I had heard that Lord Duo had bastard children of the human system." She offered no explanation of her status and Taeron was irritated to realize that he knew little about his wife's family. He would need to discuss it with Stryfe who had done some research.

Taeron thought his brother might be angered by her reference to the circumstances of his birth, but he chuckled. "It has taken some years for my lord father to understand the proper order of building his house. My own mother used his body as the first step on her climb to social and political success."

Taeron glared at his brother. How dare he speak of his mother like that? It was true, but no one in Calabria would dare say such a thing of Larya who had shown herself more than qualified to keep the position handed to her because of her tie to Lord Duo.

"Do you have some place we might rest?" demanded the sister of the princess.

"Your journey wasn't that long," commented Taeron, still glaring at his brother.

"Brother, do not be rude." Stryfe extended his arm to the darker haired princess. "There are quarters already prepared."

"I hope they are comfortable and very private." She batted her long, dark lashes at Stryfe. She was beautiful and very well formed, but Taeron did not find her attractive at all. His brother, on the other hand was apparently quite taken with her. She turned her head to look back at her half-sister, a triumphant smile curving her lips. "I'm sure you can find some way to amuse yourself, Sharisse, while my Calabrian husband and I get to know each other better." Her blue gaze slid over Stryfe. "Much better."

Stryfe didn't seem at all reluctant to leave with the woman, and Taeron had no desire to stop them. He knew that he should be accompanying the princess, his wife, but he wasn't ready to do what she had in mind. Stryfe would not betray him, Taeron was reasonably convinced, yet he might use his skills of observation to report back to him.

Shortly after they disappeared through the door, the woman Dijana had referred to as Sharisse, took a step toward it. "They should not be left alone."

"Why not?" Taeron caught her arm, and he was so surprised by the jolt he received from touching her that he instantly released her.

A blush stained her cheeks, so he assumed she had felt it too. His question remained unanswered. A long moment of awkward silence stretched between them, which was finally broken by an announcement from the pilot that the Teralonian vessel was departing rapidly.

Taeron noticed that Sharisse was clenching her fists so tightly that her fingernails had drawn blood.

"I will have quarters prepared for …" he started to tell her, but she interrupted him.

"I will stay with the princess!" she snapped at Taeron, then she marched out without another look at him, following in the direction that Stryfe had taken her half-sister.

Taeron wondered if she planned to stay when he and Dijana commenced the mating initiation. Just how did Teralonians go about what was considered a private event on Calabria? He doubted he would be able to concentrate on the task he had no desire to perform if Sharisse were nearby. As it was, he was forgetting what the princess actually looked like as he perused the lean shape of the woman walking in front of him.

Suddenly she turned around to look at him and he realized that they were in the residence corridor. "Where are they?"

Taeron almost ran into her, and when he was able to drag his eyes off her backside, he found that the front was even more distracting. The tunic was shapeless, but he could easily discern her female curves.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth, you Calabrian dog! Tell me where my sister has been taken!"

Aside from her insult, he detected concern in her voice. "This way." He moved past her in the narrow passageway, conscious of the heat of her body, almost drugged by her scent. Taeron became somewhat disoriented by her nearness. He did not like the effect his unappealing, querulous female had on him.

"Where are they?" she demanded with breathless anger. Taeron saw that she was flushed.

A door a few feet away from them opened, snapping whatever spell had been cast on them. Stryfe stepped in the hall, and seeing them, he chuckled, then laughed when Sharisse shoved past Taeron and hurried into the room he had exited. After one last glare at both Taeron and Stryfe, she shut the door and the security lock activated.

Stryfe looked from the door back to Taeron, and merriment was lighting his eyes. "My, my, brother, what have you been up to while I entertained your lovely wife?"

Taeron grabbed Stryfe's arm and dragged him further down the passage to the room which happened to be his own. "I have done nothing dishonorable!" Taeron wanted that point clarified before he continued. "I want to know what you were doing with my wife."

Stryfe threw up his hands innocently. "I assure you that I did not touch the princess." Taeron knew that Stryfe was holding back laughter. "Just how long do you want me to play the role of Lord Taeron, savior of Teralon, ruler of Varoonya, warlord of the Calabrian Empire?"

Taeron suppressed the urge to strike his mocking brother. "Why did you insult my mother?"

His brother chuckled. "I thought it would get your mind off your fear."

"I am not afraid of that woman!" insisted Taeron angrily.

Stryfe threw himself down on Taeron's bed and laced his hands behind his head as he stared at him. "The princess really isn't all that threatening, but I am almost sure that amazon Sharisse could pin you to the floor."

Taeron flushed, both with embarrassment and from the heat that came from imagining himself pinned beneath the woman.

Chortling, Stryfe sat up. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, brother when they discover the truth."

Taeron frowned at him before he began to pace. "I…I don't think I am ready to…to…"

"Start your house?" supplied Stryfe jovially. His brother was enjoying his distress far too much.

"I may have to get to know her better." Taeron didn't look at Stryfe because his amusement would only make him angry. What had made him think his frivolous brother would be of any support on this trip? He had to remind himself that Stryfe was here on official Imperial business. "Don't you have a report to scribble?"

"What do you think I could write at this point?" Stryfe was trying desperately not to laugh. "… _having met the princess and lied about his identity…"_

"I have not lied about my identity!" Taeron was horrified that Stryfe might add such a thing to an official report.

"You are splitting hairs, brother. While not actually lying, referring to yourself in the third person has somewhat clouded the issue of your identity." Stryfe tapped his chin with his finger as if in thought, then continued with his report, _"Lord Taeron proceeded to seduce his wife's half-sister."_

"I did no such thing!" Seduce? Him? Amyr would have been capable of it, but Taeron would never dishonor his own house like that.

"I don't know," commented Stryfe slowly. "I think the ferocious Sharisse was quite attracted to you."

"You think so?" Taeron asked before he could catch himself. By the gods, he was behaving like an idiot! The female had not even a fraction of the beauty of the princess that was to be his wife and yet …

Stryfe burst into laughter.

Taeron was now sure he looked like a buffoon. "You have not given me an opinion of the princess although you spent several minutes alone with my wife."

"Did I?" His brother was being obtuse apurpose.

Instead of responding, Stryfe swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked to the door. "Shall I inform the pilots to keep quiet about our true identities until you decide to apprise the lovely princess of your true identity?"

"I haven't lied," muttered Taeron, then added, "ask the pilots not to refer to me by name."

Stryfe was chuckling as he walked out.

Taeron knew he was making a mistake.

Then again, it wouldn't be the first catastrophic mistake he had made in the last six years.


	11. Chapter 11 Princess Dijana

**Chapter 11**

"Why are you flushed?"

Dijana glared at her sister – her half-sister if the rumors were to be believed. Since her father, Balak, ignored Sharisse, Dijana chose to refer to her as a bastard, especially since her behavior warranted it more often than not.

"I am not flushed!"

"Lord Taeron's brother is quite a handsome man." Sharisse stretched on the sumptuous bed taking up much of the space in the cabin and she caressed the silken coverlet as she looked slyly at Dijana. "Lord Taeron is quite attractive as well, don't you think? One of us has to marry him, and given that he is unlikely to want you, I am quite willing to undertake the task in your stead."

Dijana wasn't the least interested in the man she had expected to take as her mate. She had felt a mixture of relief and annoyance when her sister had gone to the cabin with the Calabrian. She hadn't been alone with Lord Taeron long enough to do anything improper, yet Dijana was irritated that Sharisse was attempting to usurp her position before she agreed to relinquish it.

"I don't know why my father sent you with me!" When the emperor contacted Teralon to inform them that his warlord was en route to the planet to claim his bride, Dijana expected to begin preparing for her marriage celebration. Although reluctant, she was dismayed when her father informed her that she would be sent, with Sharisse, to meet the warlord, that there would be no ceremony.

Sharisse rolled her eyes. "This agreement was made with the emperor himself and it is too important to let you befoul it."

Dijana felt shame twist her insides and she had no words to respond.

Sharisse shrugged and Dijana knew that she did not care about her opinion. "When Lord Taeron rejects you, and we know that he will, he might be appeased with what I can offer him." She stretched again to draw Dijana's attention to what would appeal to the Calabrian lord. "Even if he could be persuaded to look beyond your shortcomings, sister, I doubt he will be pleased to learn that you lied to the Calabrians about our identities."

There was nothing she could say to her accusation. But she didn't really feel the need to be honest to the Calabrian dog who waited so long to come to Teralon to take her away in marriage. When she had been told of the agreement with Calabria, Dijana had been excited to learn that she would take the warlord as her mate. That was when she was a few years younger and grateful to the man that had saved her planet. She dreamed of the hero that would take her away from her disgrace, who would cleanse her of her failures. No male would take her as his bride on Teralon and she had come to believe as so much time had passed that Lord Taeron knew enough about her to regret the agreement that her mother had made with the emperor. As she waited for him to claim her, Dijana's hopes died a slow death.

"He is quite charming," commented Sharisse.

Dijana looked at her. "I really don't care, sister. You are welcome to him!" She despised men who used flattery to charm females into becoming their pawns and she had quickly surmised that Lord Taeron was such a man.

Sharisse studied her fingernails for a moment and then said, "He is obligated to marry you. He will have to have a good reason to not honor the contracts. Princess Chaela has said that Lord Taeron's sense of honor is impeccable, so he won't easily ignore the vows he has made."

Stubborn pride and more than a little fear kept Dijana from marching straight to the Calabrian hero to tell him exactly why he should not take her for his wife. Despite her anger at his neglect, marriage to him was her only option because her father had made it clear that he would be glad if she not return to Teralon after everything that had happened.

"You may remain with me when I make my home with Lord Taeron," said Sharisse graciously. "He need never know the truth about us for our people would never dare reveal it."

Her sister had the means to hurt Dijana's feelings, and she had always used them to her advantage. Dijana had few, if any allies on Teralon since the invasion. Even before the arrival of the Varoonyans, Sharisse had many admirers. Her half-sister was beautiful, had always been beautiful, and she had many suitors. But despite all the gifts with which she had been born, she could never have the one thing she desired. Dijana had been born first and she was the rightful heir to the throne. Sharisse resented being treated as a useless appendage.

"We shouldn't fight," said Dijana with a sigh. Sharisse might be her only ally among these strangers despite the enmity between them.

Sharisse was twirling her dark hair around a finger. "I think Lord Taeron is attracted to me. I know that you are repulsed by men, so I should find it no great hardship to take your place."

Taking her place was all that Sharisse had ever wanted. Dijana's father, Balak, had even gone to the council of elders after the Varoonyan invasion to demand they set Dijana aside, but they would not do so without her mother's consent. Dijana doubted they feared her mother's reprisal when Queen Neria did not deign to leave her northern palace to which she had retired shortly after Sharisse's birth. She had not returned to see any of her children, and while Avar and Sharisse had visited her, Balak refused to allow Dijana to even meet her mother. He claimed the council refused to grant permission for her to leave the city, and for most of her life, Dijana had been confined to the palace, for her own safety. Dijana had never questioned the restrictions, but accepted them, just as she accepted the marriage to the hero of Varoonya.

They didn't speak for several moments before Sharisse remarked, "His comely half-brother seemed pleasant enough and he might be malleable if you could manage to seduce him."

"Seduce him?" Sharisse's suggestion made her feel nauseous. Although she had seen Sharisse do it often enough to hapless males who would do anything her beautiful sister asked, Dijana would not know how to do it.

"What choice do you have?" Sharisse reminded her. "Lord Taeron did not even look at you! I would not want a husband who was more interested in flirting with my sister."

Taking a deep breath, Dijana asked, "Do you not fear that he will be angry when he learns of the deception?" Worrying about it now was absurd, but Dijana had panicked after Avar had shoved her out of the ship when she had balked at leaving. She had been distracted by Lord Taeron's brother, or she would have corrected Lord Taeron when he misidentified Sharisse. If she had, she might be lying in that bed now with him sealing the pact between their worlds. The thought made her feel queasy and she put her hand against the wall to keep her balance.

Sharisse frowned at her. "You do not need...?"

"No!" snapped Dijana. There was more disgust than concern in her sister's question.

Sharisse did not hide her sneer and there was another moment of uneasy silence between them before she remarked, "Do not concern yourself with Lord Taeron. I will handle him and you will handle his brother. He was not properly introduced, so you should find out what you can about him."

Dijana couldn't imagine prowling around the Calabrian vessel seeking information about the Calabrian. All of her life she had been guarded day and night with barely any privacy. She had been told what to do, where to go, who to speak to and she regretted the one time she had strayed from the path laid out for her.

"Who would I ask?"

"This ship isn't very big," Sharisse told Dijana with annoyance. "I imagine they only have pilots. Go ask them."

Reluctantly Dijana left her sister behind, but she felt uncomfortable without either one of her female servants or a guard following at a discreet distance. Many times she had resented that aspect of her life, the lack of privacy, and now she felt naked without it. She could hear Lord Taeron and his brother talking, but she couldn't make out their words. Nor did she wish to hear their private conversation, so she continued through the corridor until she came to the door at the end of which was the entrance to an elevator that took her up to what appeared to be the control center of the craft. She would have entered immediately, but she heard two men snorting with laughter.

"I wouldn't have believed that Lord Taeron of all people would be such a coward!"

Lord Taeron a coward? The Calabrian had saved Teralon from enslavement by Varoonya, and not satisfied, chased them back to their own world where he had vanquished them. He had killed Prince Rangyar with his own sword! Dijana had heard many tales of his valor and ferocity, so she was surprised by what his men said about him. Could the stories have been false?

"I tell you he is scared witless. I think I could have taken him in a fight."

"He was sweating like a untried youth facing a canyon beast."

"I am surprised he did not lose his last meal."

They burst into laughter.

Dijana, dismayed to hear them disparage the warlord, spun to leave without asking her questions when she almost ran into the man who was the subject of their conversation.

A half-smile curved Lord Taeron's lips although he had clearly heard their words. She grew rigid with anger that he allowed his men to ridicule him.

"May I help you..." He paused and she realized that the oaf could not remember her name!

"Sharisse!"

He nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked her over carefully. Dijana was used to men looking past her because she was not beautiful, and she could see in the eyes of this Calabrian who was to be her husband, that he found her lacking. Like almost every other man she had ever known, he preferred her sister, and while she should be hurt by the realization, she was not. While he was tall and lean, he did not carry himself like the warrior that had subjugated the Varoonyan thrall masters and kept them in check for the Calabrian Empire. He wore embellished silken robes befitting his station, but she saw no sign of the weapon that he had used to slay countless thralls.

His brow was arched over deep blue eyes. Those he had in common with his brother, the man she had first seen and who, even though he was not in the room, could make her pulse race with thoughts about him.

He was waiting for her to speak. Dijana sighed. "I seek the name of your brother, my lord. We were not properly introduced."

Lord Taeron grunted. "The gods know my brother is an inept buffoon where women are concerned." He motioned to one of the pilots who shared a grin with the other before coming to them.

"Lord Taeron's brother is called Stryfe," he told Dijana who glared at Lord Taeron for not deigning to answer the question himself. "He is the imperial scribe sent by the emperor to record the event of the completion of his marriage."

A scribe? He had the build of a bodyguard, stood with the stance of a warrior, and he was a scribe? Dijana had been raised to believe that she must wed a warrior and now Sharisse expected her to seduce a scribe!

She swallowed her disappointment. "I hope, my lord, that you found my sister to your liking," she managed to say. At least she could find out what he thought about Sharisse.

His lazy smile at the mention of her sister disgusted Dijana and she knew that she could not stomach the idea of submitting to him so that she could bear his children. And yet the idea of giving herself to a man who chose to wield a pen over a sword was even more repugnant. She had hoped the nightmare that was her life was over now that she had left Teralon, but it seemed that it would never end.

"Your sister is much to my liking," said Lord Taeron.

That did not surprise Dijana at all. "Then perhaps you should do now what you have failed to do in many years!" she snapped. She wanted this behind her! If Lord Taeron took Sharisse, he could not reject her, and she did not care what came of it. Her father and brother expected Lord Taeron to kill her anyway, so what did one more lie matter? Would they be pleased that Sharisse had taken the Calabrian warlord as her mate? The council might be displeased, and Dijana had no way of knowing how her mother would react, given that she had made the agreement with the emperor. Dijana had no desire to please her, having never met the woman that had given her life. Queen Neria was only a name to her.

Lord Taeron was about to speak, but he was interrupted by another deep voice that sent a hot shiver racing down her spine. The scribe!

"This ship is hardly the place for Lord Taeron to initiate mating."

Dijana frowned at him. Initiate mating? For a scribe, he was very poor at choosing his words! And if what he said was true, then why did her cabin consist of such an enormous bed?

She frowned at him. "He should do it as soon as possible! My sister has waited long enough for her mate to claim her and she would forgo any ceremonies to have the deed done." Dijana did not need to consult Sharisse to know that what she said was true.

The two men exchanged glances she could not understand. Stryfe appeared affronted while Lord Taeron seemed amused. The latter rubbed his hands together and started to move past them. "Well, I guess I have a most pleasant duty to perform."

His brother caught his arm and Dijana would swear she saw a muscle bulge in the scribe's arm which elicited an answering wince from the hero of Varoonya. They looked at each other for a moment and then the scribe released his brother.

Lord Taeron turned to Dijana. "Alas, I must wait until the celebration on Dagmaeus, the moon where my mother resides with her family. She would be disappointed to be denied the honor of hosting the momentous event, especially since she will have many words of wisdom to impart to my bride to make the experience unforgettable."

After a smirk at his brother, the Calabrian left her with Stryfe who was frowning in the direction he had gone. Dijana did not want to be left alone with him, but she refused to be intimidated by the scribe despite the discomfort she felt in his presence. She could not say the discomfort was unpleasant, and that warned her to be wary after her past experience.

Since the Varoonyan occupation, Dijana had ceased to care about how she looked, but she suddenly wondered how this scribe saw her. She felt safe wearing the tunic and leggings, and while she was armed with chakrams, she did not really know how to use them. When she asked her father to provide a trainer, he had scoffed that there was no reason for the princess of Teralon to wield a weapon. That was why she must marry a warrior. And yet he had never allowed any warrior to court her, as if any would wish to. Dijana was plain and she knew it. There was a statue of her mother in the palace grotto and Dijana looked nothing like the voluptuous, beautiful female who had bequeathed her beauty to her bastard daughter instead of her heir.

As for the scribe, she could not take her gaze from him. His very long dark hair was caught in the back and braided like his brother's hair. She doubted it had ever been cut and she resisted the urge to touch her own shorn locks. The plain knee-length tunic fit his taut, muscular form perfectly over trousers tucked in leather boots. The sight of his flawless physique gave her a strange, fluttering sensation in her stomach. These foolish woman's feelings angered her because they made her feel weak. They were feelings that she knew could betray her, had already betrayed her.

When she looked at his face, she almost regretted it because his eyes were traveling the length of her as well. He did not betray his thoughts, his very handsome face impassive as his gaze met hers. She did not think she had ever seen such deep violet eyes and she was mesmerized for a moment as they stared at each other.

Flustered, Dijana finally broke the spell between them and blurted, "I wouldn't have thought the hero of the Varoonyan War would defer to his mother! Perhaps his duty should be more important than pleasing a woman."

"I believe," he began, his voice deep and throaty, "that the pleasing of a woman is at issue."

At that moment, the pleasing of one woman was the only thing she could think of as she stared at him speechlessly. This strange scribe made her feel things that she hadn't felt for a very long time and she clenched her hands into fists at her side as she fought tears. Dijana could not be that silly princess who was so foolishly flattered by the attentions of a Varoonyan embassador that she would destroy her own life. Maybe if he hadn't shown interest in her, maybe …

He continued, cutting off thoughts she did not wish to have. "The houses of Lord Apolo and Lord Duo are eager to welcome the new bride in a manner befitting her new station."

"She is a princess of Teralon," stated Dijana, suddenly affronted by his implication that she was rising in status.

"She is now the wife of the next governor of Ulfynaeus, daughter-in-law to the governor's of two moons. Her husband's father is the imperial guard of the emperor himself and his stepfather is the brother of the emperor's wife."

Dijana leaned closer to him, her eyes narrowed. "She is the daughter of the queen!"

He raised a brow. "Of a planet that could not defend itself against a band of cutthroats and blood-sucking fiends."

Her face burned with shame. "What would you know, scribe? Did you record the event? Were you there, standing in the shadows with your pen and parchment?"

To her aggravation, he merely smiled self-deprecatingly, the effect wreaking havoc on her senses despite the anger the burned her at hearing his arrogant denunciation of her world.

"I recorded the fact of how Calabrians lost their blood on Teralonian plains as they drove out the invaders while the terrified bird warriors hid in their caves."

The truth of his words horrified her and infuriated her. Dijana was going to slap his smug face, but he caught her wrist before she could even raise it. His grip did not hurt, but it was firm, and startling heat raced through her. He did not seem affected although he must surely feel her quaking with anger.

They stared at each other silently for a moment before she tried to pull her wrist from his grip and he held it immobile as if to prove he were superior to her and all of Teralon.

Before she could snap at him to release her, the ship suddenly lurched and she fell into him as he fell back a step. But where she had completely lost her balance and sprawled onto him, he had gained his with agility she could only attribute to legendary Calabrian imperial training.

She tried not to revel in the feeling of warmth she felt as his free arm came up to steady her. The warmth soon ignited into blazing heat as she became aware of the hard planes of his body to which her curves pressed. She tingled from head to toe now, testament to the fact that she was desperately in need of a mate. Could this Calabrian - nay human for she knew that Stryfe's family was from another world - sense her response? That Varoonyan bastard had taken advantage of her inexperience and now she feared she would suffer the same fate with another male.

Then she felt his heart beneath her beating faster, and the heat of his body almost made her dizzy. Looking up at his face, she saw his eyes darken, and a tiny voice inside her warned her to escape. She could see that he was fighting an inner struggle as well by the tick in his cheek fas he clenched his jaw.

The fact that he had become disoriented was apparent when another lurch of the ship threw them both off balance and they tumbled to the floor. She ended up sprawled atop him in a manner that was disturbingly improper and yet she did not want to move. Dijana had surely lost her mind! Even the Varoonyan had not affected her so quickly but had seduced her with his smooth lies over several weeks.

The door to the control room slid open as the ship lurched again. "My lord!" The startled young man tried to maintain his balance as the ship now careened seemingly out of control.

Lord Stryfe grunted and pushed Dijana from him. "What … what … is …. is …. happening?" She saw that he was pale and he seemed to have trouble focusing. Dijana realized that the scribe suffered from space sickness and she felt like a fool thinking that he might be attracted to her when all the while he must have been trying not to vomit.

"We must have been caught in a micro-meteor storm. The stabilizers are off-line and we have lost our navigation."

As Dijana staggered to her feet, the pilot spared her only a brief glance before he helped Stryfe into the control room. She pushed herself forward to follow although her legs were strangely uncooperative. She watched the scribe lean against a flat navigation panel to watch as the pilot's fingers moved over the surface rapidly. This was Dijana's first flight into space, but she was unaffected by the ship's movements. The scribe probably would not be able to stand if he were not leaning against the control panel.

"There were no meteors detected when we parted ways from Prince Staefyn's fleet, and the energy shielding as well as the imperial alloy hull should prevent any damage," the pilot told Stryfe.

The ship had managed to stabilize although it was now traveling rapidly through space without any means of navigation. Lord Stryfe rubbed his face with his hands as if he could drive away his sickness and he turned his attention to the readout on the screen embedded in the flat panel.

The other pilot was also staring at the screen and he suddenly gasped. "My lord! The navigation system has been locked!"

Pale and trembling from the loss of his equilibrium, Stryfe said nothing for a moment, and then he slammed his hand against the panel and Dijana could see that he was angry.

"My lord?" The two officers appeared worried and the first pilot spoke. "Should we try to override the lock?"

Stryfe swallowed before speaking. "You can try, but I doubt you will be able." Pushing away from the panel, he grasped Dijana's arm and propelled her out of the control room with him. "You have accommodations. I suggest you make use of them during this crisis."

Dijana might have reprimanded him for his rough treatment of her if he did not look as though he might vomit. As he shoved her through the corridor and back to the residential level of the ship, he did not speak although his body was rigid and she could barely keep up with his long strides.

She had no way of knowing why he was so angry and thought that he should probably be trying to override the glitch in the ship's systems, but his mood was so dark that she did not dare speak. When he came to her cabin, he opened the door and pushed her inside without a word.

Sharisse had been pacing nervously and she hurried to Dijana as she leaned against the door, but she slid to a stop and her brows drew together. "Where have you been and what have you been doing? What is happening?"

Rather than face her sister's questions, Dijana hurried to open the door and slipped back into the hall. She quickly went to the room where she was sure Stryfe had gone to report to his brother. This time she could hear the voices because they were speaking in anger.

"...treachorous snake! I trusted him! Is there one in that house that can be trusted? Are they all so warped with the blood of Zeno the Butcher and Camridaeus that not a one of them can behave honorably?"

"You are surely mistaken." Lord Taeron's voice was cajoling and Dijana realized he was trying to calm his brother.

But Stryfe sounded furious. "There is no mistake! This ship's navigation has been sabotaged. I saw him at the navigation panel shortly before his departure, and he told me that he was checking the course. This trip was his idea from the beginning. Now we are being prevented from returning to Calabria."

"Why would Prince Staefyn do this? What would he have to gain?"

"Instability," she heard Stryfe say. "Do you think Lord Duo will idly accept the loss of both his sons? This will strain his relationship with the emperor since Trey insisted on this trip to Teralon."

"And without the warlord who has commanded the imperial warriors these last few years," mused Lord Taeron aloud, "there will be an absence of command. Is the emperor in danger?"

Dijana held her breath, waiting for an answer. If Emperor Trey were overthrown, the binary system would be thrust back into the same bloody chaos that had defined it for a millennium. Although her father resented the emperor's encroachment on their part of the system, he grudgingly acknowledged that life in the binary system had improved under his benevolent control.

"If he intends to overthrow his father, he will need more time to gather the necessary warriors," she heard Stryfe say. "There are many warlords that will not align against the emperor."

"And there are others waiting for the opportunity to strike," remarked Lord Taeron.

"We must return as soon as possible," concluded his brother. "I need you to fix the navigation."

"I cannot fix it," responded Lord Taeron. "I do have some rudimentary knowledge of the systems on this craft, but Quynn was the expert."

"We are traveling at hyperspace speed in the direction of the frontier,"

stated Stryfe grimly.

The frontier! Dijana stumbled away from the door, not caring to hear any more dire news. No one ever returned from the frontier! Even the worst of the Varoonyans kept their trade beyond the frontier to a minimum because there were creatures inhabiting the worlds in that part of space that were even more vile than the Varoonyan thrall masters.

Despite the presence of the infamous Lord Taeron, Dijana knew their small craft was doomed once it left the binary system and raced into uncharted space.


	12. Chapter 12 The champion

**Chapter 12**

"You have outdone yourself this time Ryanwin. Wherever did you find such a magnificent animal?"

Amyr stood completely still as the elegant, pale female circled him, moving ever closer as she did. Her long, patrician nose wrinkled with disgust, but Amyr had long since given up on any form of modesty where personal hygiene was concerned. His pulse still raced from the battle he had fought against this woman's champion, and now his body was sticky from the other man's blood that had sprayed on him from the killing blow. The filth of the arena clung to his sweaty body, the filth of many days and many deaths at his hands.

He glanced at Ryanwin under his lashes and saw that she watched the other woman with amused contempt as she inspected him.

"He is Calabrian," remarked his prospective buyer. "But he does not fight as I have seen other Calabrians do."

Because he had not completed his training and did not know the myriad fighting stances and attacks that imperial warriors learned. Amyr hadn't believed it necessary for him to make the effort, not when Taeron was doing such an admirable job of it. His imperial guard would have protected him. His imperial guard _should have_ protected him, but Amyr was not going to think about Taeron's failures now. He was hoping this female would purchase him so that he would not have to endure another day with Ryanwin as his master.

"I purchased him from a Varoonyan trader some years ago. He was not my first choice among the captives they were trading, but his arrogance intrigued me. His fighting style is abysmal, but his desire to live is strong and he has become a favorite with the crowd so his matches are very profitable for me." She didn't add that other aspects failed to live up to her standards. This woman would find out on her own.

"He made surprisingly short work of Paetor," remarked the lady. When she touched the muscles of one of his arms, he felt light-headed. "I should like to purchase him."

The witch would never sell him.

"I am sorry, Eylinor, but he is not for sale."

Eylinor slid her hand over his shoulder and down the expanse of his filthy chest. "Then perhaps you care to lend his services." The witch watched with her twisted smile as the other woman slipped her hand down to the leather loincloth he wore. A sweat broke out over his forehead as she touched his flesh, and he thought he might heave what little he had been given to eat that day before she removed her hand.

Eylinor turned a puzzled gaze to Ryanwin. "Is this some sort of joke? He does not respond."

Ryanwin laughed mirthlessly. "The primitive bastard is mated and cannot perform that function with other females. Believe me, Eylinor, I have tried, but he is useless as a male."

Remembering all the females that would have disagreed on Calabria, Amyr wondered if this condition had been given to him by the gods.

"A pity," murmured the Andar noblewoman as she ran her hand over him again. "He could have sired many warriors. I would have enjoyed having a stable of Calabrian fighters."

Amyr wasn't destined to sire any warriors and he knew he owed it to the red-haired bitch that had abandoned him to shame and dishonor. He didn't know what she had done to him or how, but once he had made that vow, he was unable to perform as a male. She had apparently used the same magic that her mother had used to bewitch Duo Maxwell. His predicament had caused no small amount of ridicule and scorn from Ryanwin who hoped to mate him herself. Amyr could only cleanse the humiliation by battle in the arena, so killing had become his only form of pleasure. His life was one bloody contest after another, and each time he stepped into the arena, he told himself it would be the last, that he would end it by allowing the killing stroke of his opponent to find its mark. But some instinct from deep inside would make him prevent that killing blow, and he would come out victorious.

"You will have to search the markets for another Calabrian," Ryanwin told her companion.

Eylinor huffed in annoyance. "There are few to be had since the frontier has been closed off. The Varoonyans have not been to the markets in several years."

"A shame," agreed Ryanwin. "We shall have to assume that the Varoonyans have run afoul of a force greater than their own."

Imperial warriors, Amyr thought, but he did not tell them his suspicion.

Eylinor sighed deeply. "I was hoping to spend an enjoyable afternoon with your champion, but now I suppose I must go. My husband expects my presence when he pays that rabble from Norvana."

Ryanwin's interest was piqued. "So you had need of hunters? I did not know they were on the planet. Is Lord Mordrad with them?"

Amyr recognized the lust in her voice and it disgusted him.

"Indeed. They have returned from the hills where they have rid us of a nest of monsters." Eylinor grunted. "I invited Mordrad to spend the day with him while his capable crew eradicated the beasts, but he refused. Perhaps he has been bewitched by the beautiful summoner traveling with them."

"Bewitched? Mordrad?" Ryanwin sniffed disdainfully. "Summoner or not, he will be with me tonight. He has never refused my invitation." She signaled to her guards, then Amyr felt a jolt so powerful in the shackle around his neck that he stumbled to his knees. "Come along, champion." She handed her controlling device to the guard who zapped him again before ordering him to fall in line.

Amyr forced himself forward; his head bowed subserviently although he seethed with such rage that he was surprised his heart did not explode. Death was preferable to the life he had now, and yet he had no choice but to continue in this intolerable existence. Perhaps his deep-seeded need for revenge kept him going day after excruciating day, treated like an animal, humiliated by his master and scorned and tortured by his guards. Only his fantasies of exacting revenge on the people who caused this kept him going. Although he doubted she yet lived, Amyr devoted many hours to imagining the ways he would make Quynn suffer. First he would take from her what he had been denied these long, agonizing years, and when he grew bored with her, he would demand she remove her spell so that she could suffer by knowing that he would enjoy any female that would not deny him. And what female would deny him?

There was only one person he wanted to see suffer more. Taeron of house Maxwell. Each night he lay awake devising one gruesome torture after another to perfect the most painful death he would give the imperial guard that had put the honor of his father's house over the welfare of the prince he had given an oath to protect with his own life. There was the strong possibility that Taeron had not survived the debacle at Teralon; he was not indestructible. But Darlac, gods curse the bastard for withholding Meridon's men from joining Amyr's offensive, had remained in the Calabrian camp with his fierce warriors, so there was a chance that Taeron had survived. If so, Taeron would have returned to Calabria in disgrace after failing his prince. The thought of Lord Duo rejecting Taeron for the dishonor he brought his house gave Amyr much consoling pleasure. The bastard would have to return to his whore mother where he would be reviled by her husband, Amyr's uncle.

Now shackled to the other fighters, their ankles hobbled so that they could not take more than a shuffling step, Amyr was too weak after the energy blasts through the slave collar to offer any resistance to their commands, so he shuffled out of the wretched pens adjoining the arena with the rest of the slaves. They were herded towards the longhouses at the edge of the city where they would be fed and allowed to rest until the evening's fights. This necessitated a trek through the marketplace and despite himself, Amyr peered around at the people of the planet going about their business, glancing only briefly with at the filthy slaves before turning away in disgust.

Shadows overhead drew his attention, and he looked up with his comrades in chains to see dragon-like creatures soar downwards before landing gracefully at the edge of the square. Amyr had seen the raptors when he first arrived on the planet several days ago and knew they were a form of transportation much like the horses on Calabria. He considered how much more enjoyable if not faster the trip from Edgeland Fortress to the imperial city would be if Calabria had some of those beasts.

"Hunters." The word seemed to have found its way into the conversations of many of the people in the plaza as they turned to watch their arrival.

This must be the infamous group from Norvana that earned its reputation by going to planets when called to remove creatures Amyr could not even conjure in his nightmares. He had seen some of those creatures, pitted against each other in arenas, creatures that could put a canyon beast to shame. Razor sharp claws and teeth were usually augmented with venom that could paralyze or kill. The hunters from Norvana were unusually skilled at killing the beasts when they threatened the people of the worlds that had enough credits to employ them.

The group of hunters dismounted and Amyr owed his guards' curiosity for his own opportunity to observe them. From the distance, he could see four men, two women and a child that was clinging to one of the women. The leader was not hard to discern by his air of command. Lord Mordrad was tall and lean, silver streaking his long dark hair. He was talking to one of the women, his arm around her waist. Two of the men were helping another man who appeared injured, and the other woman smoothed the hair of the dark-haired child, no doubt Mordrad's son. Amyr soon lost interest. A few years ago he might have dreamed of escaping to be part of such a group, but now he knew he was destined to live out his pathetic life shackled and treated like an animal that did not even warrant more than a disinterested glance from the group of hunters.

But as the guards shouted at them to move, their own curiosity appeased, Amyr caught a scent on the wind, a scent that made his nostrils flare and the blood rush through his veins to parts of him that had been dormant since the night he had spoken vows to the female of Lord Duo's house. Startled by his reaction, Amyr swung his head about frantically, searching for the source of the scent that had made the need he had managed with great difficulty to subdue to scorch his body with unbearable heat.

Standing at the square fountain stood a woman so perfect in face and form that he had to blink to be sure she was real. Her long, curvy body moved with regal grace as she leaned down to dip a bejeweled cup into the water from the ornate public fountain. Long, thick hair the fiery color of a Calabrian sunset fell past her shoulders in glossy waves, clinging to the sensual curve of her hips. She wore a fabric that rested against her like a second skin, leaving little to the imagination as she moved. His body reacted painfully as he watched her offer the water to the boy, a beautiful dark-haired child who smiled at her as he drank.

Suddenly she looked up, her brows wrinkled in a frown, and as she turned her head, Amyr lost the ability to breathe.

Even in the distance separating them, their eyes met and he sucked in a gulping breath to recognize her gaze. Amyr would never forget the dark purple blue of twilight on Ulfynaeus. When the cup dropped from her hands, he knew she had seen him, that she recognized him, and he now stumbled, earning him a crack from the whip. Amyr did not care. He lurched forward, his strength bringing the dozen men with him as he tried to reach her. The slave collar zapped him and weakened him, but he would not be denied. Nothing would keep him from that female!

Any other woman would have shrank back in fear, for Amyr knew he was no different than the beasts to which he was now chained. It didn't surprise him that she held her ground although she was clearly startled to see him. She had nothing to fear from him thanks to her witchery, and hurting her was far from his thoughts. He had no thoughts because he had become a mindless, rutting beast seeking his mate.

"Quynn!" His voice was hoarse after so much time of disuse. Amyr did not remember the last time he had spoken.

Lord Mordrad came to her side to draw her protectively to him as the woman who had been with him stepped in front of Quynn. She raised her hand, mumbled a word or two that he did not understand and suddenly Amyr found that he had lost the ability to move. By the gods, he wished he had lost the ability to feel as well!

"Are you all right, Quynn?" he heard Mordrad ask.

Amyr was zapped by the collar again, and although he could not move, he felt the sharp pain like shards of glass stab into his neck. The guards were shouting at him, but he felt as if he had turned to stone.

"What is going on here?" He recognized her shrill voice before he saw Ryanwin pass by him, sparing him only a glance.

She marched to Lord Mordrad. "Mordrad!" Ryanwin outstretched her hands and the hunter took them to kiss solicitously.

"My dear Ryanwin! I was unaware that you were here. It is a pleasure to see you."

The two women moved back, obviously used to his flirtations. The older woman had put herself in front of Quynn as if to protect her although the magic she had used on Amyr would do that well enough. Amyr could not even summon his weak Guerani power to fight it, certainly not when his body ached for his female. Quynn, while obviously startled by Amyr's appearance, had straightened her spine in that stubborn pose that she probably thought was intimidating. What it really did was give him a better view of her female curves from head to foot and it fueled the inferno blazing in his body. She was so stunning that the grotesque need for her threatened to undo Amyr and drive him mad.

He could not take his eyes off Quynn, and he noticed that she glanced frequently at him, but she made no move to approach him. They had made an oath, and yet she stood only steps away from him saying nothing when she had the power to have him released. He was her husband! Gods curse the treacherous bitch! She had the ability to save him, and yet she stood by clutching the child to her, trying to hide him from Amyr. The sight of the boy filled him with more cold rage than he had ever felt in his life. His mate had given herself to another and borne a child when she should only bear his! If he were ever freed, he would kill them both with his bare hands.

"I heard about your champion already." Mordrad was saying, and Amyr saw that he glanced between Quynn and Amyr, before looking back to Ryanwin. "The presence of my summoner seems to have agitated him."

Summoner? Quynn? Amyr would have snarled with disgust if he could, but he could only stand still as a statue. He knew she was a sorceress! What else could explain her treacherous hold on him?

Ryanwin now looked at Amyr now, her disdain obvious until she noted the unmistakable effect that Quynn had on his body. "Indeed," she commented, now distracted. "I have never seen him so … agitated."

By the gods, he recognized that predatory look in her eyes and he was powerless to prevent her from doing whatever she wished.

The woman standing with Quynn stepped fully in front of her. "I regret the use of magic on him," she told Ryanwin. Amyr had never seen a sorceress although since coming to this lawless system beyond the frontier, he had heard of their existence. The magic that was reviled on Calabria was embraced on these worlds and those that could control it were in great demand. "The paralysis will eventually wear off."

Ryanwin moved away from Mordrad and came to Amyr where she ran her hands over his filthy flesh. "Not too soon, I hope," she murmured against his ear. "I have plans for him."

"His strength necessitated a strong spell," the sorceress told her. "In a few hours it will wear off."

"He should be in condition to fight in the arena this night," said Mordrad. With a chuckle he added, "If you do not wear him out, Ryanwin. I hope to see the contest before I leave. My men are returning a rather nasty grendel that we managed to capture for Lord Delanar's amusement in the arena."

She glanced briefly at Mordrad, but she was more distracted by Amyr's state of arousal, one over which he had no control at the moment. "Yes, yes, I shall expect you to join me this evening. Until tonight, Mordrad."

The hunter was close enough that Amyr could meet his serpentine eyes, and he held his gaze briefly before he bowed and stepped back. Ryanwin ordered the guards to bring Amyr to her rooms, then after a curious glance at Mordrad's women, particularly Quynn, she spun to walk away.

Amyr was able to give Quynn one last venomous glare, trying to tell her with his eyes that he would make her suffer should he ever escape his torment. And escape he would. He now had a purpose. The degradation he was about to suffer as Ryanwin used his stiff and frozen body against his will would be bearable because he would use all his energies to find a way to escape.

"Mama, are you all right?"

Quynn was trembling as she watched guards drag away a man she thought she would never see again in this life. The tugging at her hand drew her gaze away and she looked down at the boy speaking. "I am fine, Yori."

"Your mother was just a little startled." Carrinda took Yori's hand. "Why don't you come with me?"

Quynn was grateful when Mordrad slipped a steadying arm around her waist. She didn't actually care what people thought of their relationship as she leaned against him. He was a womanizer who spread himself thin, but no woman was foolish enough to take him seriously. Even Carrinda considered him little more than a friend although she had been his lover for many years. Mordrad had not, however, attempted to seduce Quynn. He seemed to have a sense to tell him when females were attracted to him, and Quynn felt nothing for him except friendship and gratitude.

They walked in silence for a few moments before he finally spoke. "He is Yori's father."

Quynn gasped and looked up at him. "He cannot be Yori's father! We never...never..."

"Mated?" He raised a brow. "But I sensed a connection between the two of you, a connection that is deep. You and he share a bond."

"Yori is not that bond," she insisted. "Yori is not even my child."

"You bore him, and I had begun to believe your fantastical story of the Zayronian female implanting the child in you. They are known to steal the strands of life of unwilling beings, but now that I have seen the boy's sire, I do not believe your story."

Quynn stiffened and drew away from him, anger giving her composure again. "I am not lying when I tell you that he did not sire Yori."

They reached the edge of the village where they had made their encampment with several tents. She could hear Yori talking about their week in the hills rooting out the monster infestation. Carrinda was keeping him distracted although Quynn knew he sensed her distress.

Mordrad took her into his own tent, which drew curious glances from his men. Once inside, he told her to sit although she ignored him to pace as he poured her a glass of wine Carrinda had brewed. Quynn took the goblet of fortifying strong liquid, enjoying the healing warmth that flowed through her as she drank it. She was tired from the day's fighting, and this rejuvenating potion cleared her head and calmed her nerves.

"Now you will tell me who that slave is," stated Mordrad.

Quynn set aside the goblet, and folding her arms over her chest, she raised her chin and stated defiantly. Mordrad would find out one way or another, so she said, "My husband."

His dark brows shot up. "Your mate? But you just told me..."

"We exchanged vows," she told him. "No more. During the feast, he chose to sneak into the dark gardens to seek pleasure with a serving girl." She paused when she saw Mordrad smile and she guessed that he was probably thinking Amyr quite clever. "You could not understand."

"I do not." In his culture his wife would bear his children, but he was free to dally with other females.

She put her hands on her hips. "He belonged to me! No other woman had a right to touch him." Mordrad would not understand, but she hoped he would acknowledge the rights she had on her world.

Mordrad chuckled. "Am I to assume this was a sore spot in your relationship with him in the first place?"

One that she had been unwilling to admit until it was too late. Quynn sighed. "He made a vow to me. I trusted him when everyone warned me against his inconstancy! I gave him my heart, and all along he was using me to gain the approval of his people. He wasn't the man I believed him to be."

"His people?" Mordrad raised his brow.

"He is..." Quynn frowned, realizing that she did not know how Amyr had come to his present circumstances. "He was the crown prince of Calabria."

As he silently considered her response, Mordrad stroke his chin and then he said, "Calabria is the empire causing a stir on the frontier. It grows in strength and its warriors are highly valued on the markets. I doubt Ryanwin knows of his lineage or she would have forced the emperor to pay dearly for his return."

Quynn began to pace again. "I...I cannot understand how he could be here and in such circumstances. Why would he not invoke the name of his father?" How had he become separated from her diligent brother? The only conclusion she could draw was that something terrible had happened to Taeron. She ached inside to think that her brother had paid the ultimate price for opening her eyes to the bastard Amyr really was.

Quashing her sorrow over her brother's possible fate, she looked at Mordrad. "I wish to speak to him." That was the only way she could find out about her brother. There was no other reason for her to spend any time in that filthy animal's company, especially knowing exactly what he was doing now with his master.

The last thought annoyed Quynn although she was beyond feeling anything more than irritation. She had made a life here, and she had no intention of returning to what she had left behind. She would return to dishonor, and she would bring with her shame in the form of a child calling her mother that she could not explain. She had carried Yori inside her for nine months, at first denying his existence, then reviling him, before finally growing to love the being that slept beneath her heart night after night. When the birth was difficult, she thought she would be unable to bear losing him, but Carrinda was greatly skilled in all manner of healing, and she delivered the baby. Yori's first cries made Quynn forget any pain or possible threat to her own life. No, Quynn could never return to bring such shame upon her father's house, not when she was not ashamed to hear Yori call her "mama."

"Could you arrange for me to see him?

Mordrad ran a hand through his hair. "You ask much of me, Quynn. Do you know what I'll have to do to get Ryanwin to agree?"

Quynn made a sound of disgust. "Probably what you were planning to do with that whore anyway."

He chuckled. "Well, she can be amusing. I have not seen her in quite some time so I imagine that she has learned a few new tricks." He came to her and took her hands. "You should get some rest. I will for you tonight if she agrees."

"If the grendel doesn't kill him," she murmured, thinking of the gigantic, lizard-like monster they had captured. The creature had paralyzed and injured one of the men, was at least five times the size of a man, breathed white-hot, poisoned fire and was deceptively agile. Although the Amyr she saw in the plaza bore little resemblance to the pampered crown prince to whom she had promised herself, she had difficulty imagining that he could defeat such a beast.

She returned to her own tent to find Yori already asleep, Carrinda sitting beside the decadent pile of pillows that served as their bed, stroking his dark hair. Sensing Quynn's need to be alone, Carrinda did not question her, but merely placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before exiting the tent.

Quynn lay down next to Yori who snuggled against her, throwing his small arm around her as if trying to protect her. Looking down at him, Quynn tried to see Amyr in him, but she knew the truth, that Amyr had never had the opportunity, despite his many attempts, to know her in that way. Taeron had prevented them from being alone together. In fact, that one day in the corridor was the only time she had spent more than a moment alone with him but for those tumultuous first days of their acquaintance on Ulfynaeus. Once their mutual attraction had been established, Taeron was overzealous in his self-appointed task of protecting the honor of his father's house. He was well aware of what Amyr was capable of and he must have sensed that she was not unwilling.

She could see how one could mistake Yori as Amyr's child. He was so young that his features were not well formed, but his coloring was similar to that of the Calabrian prince. Then again, it was also similar to Lord Mordrad which gave the fatherless child some protection in this harsh galaxy because Mordrad was respected in all corners. She could not return to Calabria and expose Yori to the life Taeron had suffered as a fatherless child. Reaching out to clasp his small hand, Quynn brought it to her chest to hold against her heart. She would never allow anyone to hurt her child.

The bracelet on her wrist began to emanate warmth, probably in response to the agitation her thoughts caused her, and she soon drifted into a calm sleep. She stepped instantly into a pleaceful dream that took place on a planet bathed in sunshine. She was standing in a meadow of fragrant flowers, and a soft breeze was augmented with humming that made her body vibrate. She raised her head to look in the direction of the humming and she saw Yori sitting on the massive, scaled head of a gigantic dragon. The dragon's chin was resting on the ground, humming as it wagged its tail like a dog as Yori scratched behind its ear.

"Welcome, mama."

Her dreams were frequently like this. The dragon no longer frightened her, not even when his droopy lid opened over an eyeball that was bigger than Yori himself. The dragon sighed, his hot breath scorching the grass before him but avoiding Quynn as it flowed around her, enveloping her in pleasant warmth.

"Jeshed is tired," Yori said.

"The fight was difficult today." Quynn had summoned her dragon twice when the pack of beasts had been joined by others. Usually the creatures they fought were terrified of Jeshed, but the grendels had become more ferocious.

Now she went to the gigantic dragon and waited until he laid his chin on the ground before sliding her hands over his warm, scaly face, then leaning in to lay her body on him.

"I thank you, as always," she murmured as she stroked him.

Jeshed made a keening noise and Quynn sensed his devotion. She did not know why or how he was attached to her, but she knew it had something to do with Yori. Jeshed would come into battle without a summons if Yori were in danger or even upset. Fortunately, Yori was an easy going child and rarely became emotional, the few times being when Quynn was frightened in the hunting battles.

Sighing contentedly, Jeshed closed his eyes to slumber. Yori scrambled over his forehead and slid down the front of his face, over his snout to land on his feet in front of Quynn. He smiled up at her and Quynn's heart filled with joy to meet his brown gaze.

"You have to go back, mama."

Before she could question him, she awakened and realized that someone was touching her shoulder.

"Quynn!" The urgently whispered word had the power to pull her completely from her dream. Carrinda had laid her hand on her shoulder. Quynn realized that it had become dark but for the light of a very bright moon. "Mordrad has returned for you."

At first she didn't know what Carrinda was talking about, but then she remembered his agreement to find a way for her to see Amyr. Although she was groggy, she disentangled herself from Yori who continued to sleep and went to the tent opening with the other woman. Carrinda was holding her box of healing herbs and ointments, but she thrust it into her hands.

Quynn's look of surprise prompted Carrinda to say, "Ryanwin's champion is badly injured."

"You should go," Quynn said, holding out the ornate box. Her healing abilities were limited and she was afraid that Amyr could die.

Carrinda shook her head. " _You_ must go. Mordrad has not betrayed your tie to the champion or his identity, but Ryanwin will only allow you to care for her champion."

Although Quynn had healing abilities, she was not nearly as adept as her friend. The magic she had been taught was tied to fire, so she could only use fire to heal. Since his master would not allow Carrinda to heal him, if she did not agree to attempt to heal Amyr, she would be condemning him to an agonizing death. So she pushed back her reluctance and followed Carrinda to where Mordrad was waiting.

He slipped an arm around her waist, and as they left the camp and headed to the slave pens at the edge of the city, he tossed back his head in the possessive posture that warned any of the males lurking in the shadows that approaching would be ill-advised. In another time or place, Quynn might have bristled at such dominant behavior, but in this system, she was grateful to have a strong protector. Even so, she was a little annoyed given that she could cause some serious burns with her magic. Some men glanced in their direction, but none approached, either intimidated by Mordrad or the fire in Quynn's eyes. They cowered and skulked away into the night as he escorted her through the dark streets.

"Carrinda tells me that Amyr is injured," Quynn said as the long buildings that housed the slaves came into view.

"Poison and paralysis," Mordrad told her. "Without our help, he will surely die."

She looked up at his face although she could not see well in the darkness. "Carrinda should be..."

"Ryanwin insisted. She suspects a relationship between you." He raised a brow, but she did not respond to him. "She claims that until you appeared, her prize fighter could not be brought to stud."

Quynn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. From what she knew about Prince Amyr, he had no difficulty whatsoever being brought to stud despite the interdiction against such relations between unbonded males and females on Calabria.

"I have nothing to do with his physical urges."

"She disagrees. Whatever the reason, you will be able to speak to him, to learn what you can of his circumstances."

As she followed Mordrad, she planned the questions she would ask him. The years had gone by so quickly, and during that time she had never feared for her family because of their high position in the Calabrian empire. But if the crown prince was enslaved, she could only conclude that there had been some catastrophe. Her heart ached as she thought of what might have happened to her parents and the young siblings she barely knew. By the time they reached the barracks where the slaves were being held, Quynn had nearly worked herself into a frenzy of worry. The bracelet had grown warm and she hoped Jeshed did not feel threatened by her anxiety.

The detestable female that she had seen herding the men and groping Amyr met them just inside the ramshackle building that smelled even worse than the pen in which Quynn had been held several years earlier. Based on what she had seen the previous day, the woman treated her fighters like animals, so she was not surprised. At first she had not recognized Amyr under the filth, and the changes to his appearance had made her wonder if she was mistaken. But the rasp of his voice as he shouted her name cleared any doubt.

"Good of you to return, Mordrad. I need my fighter healed as soon as possible. I have had several offers for his services this day, and if she heals him and he reacts as he did earlier today…" her sly smile sickened Quynn, "then I shall to earn a tidy sum. He cannot breed, but the ride was most entertaining."

The look the woman was giving her disgusted Quynn who was glad that she had replaced the gown Mordrad insisted she wear when playing the role of his summoner with a plain, long-sleeved tunic and pants. She shifted the basket containing the tonics and potions that Carrinda had given her to augment the weak healing spell she would use.

Ryannwin waited a moment for her to speak, and seeing that Quynn wasn't going to react, she nodded to one of her men and then slipped her arm around Mordrad's. "My dear, why don't we let your healer play with her mate while you and I find our own entertainment."

Rolling her eyes, Quynn turned on her heel to leave Mordrad behind with the repulsive woman. She followed the guard down a long, dank passage that reeked so badly she check the impulse to cover her nose. She tried to ignore the men and creatures who had been enslaved that were used to entertain the wealthy people of this planet, but she could not help feeling pity. She had spent many months in the same deplorable conditions, filth and despair constant companions. Quynn wondered how she had the strength to escape, especially when it took many months for her to recover on Norvana.

The guard stopped before a cell in which she saw a man lying in a bed of filthy dried grass. Although he wasn't moving, there were metal bracelets on his wrists and ankles connected to chains attached to a thick metal ring in the wall. The guard opened the door to the cell and grunted to her with a nod to enter.

Taking a deep breath, Quynn stepped in only after demanding a bucket of water so that she could clean his wounds which she could see were festering even from several yards away. Crossing the cell, she saw from the sparse light from the narrow slit that served as a window that he was lying on his back, his eyes wide open as he stared up.

She dropped to her knees beside him. "I don't know if you can hear me, Amyr, but I am going to try to heal you."

He did not make any sign that he had heard her. The guard returned with the water, so she tore some fabric from the bottom of her tunic and soaked it in the water before she set about cleaning the deep gashes the beast had left in his skin. She hesitated at first, having never touched more than the flesh of his hand although their lips had touched on more than one occasion. Despite the changes that had taken place on Calabria, it was still forbidden to touch the crown prince without express permission. A glance at his impassive face told her that he would not be able to give that permission, and based on the look on his face that afternoon when he saw her in the marketplace, he would not give it anyway.

Sighing, she gently skimmed her fingers along the hard flesh of his thigh where the grendel had sunk its long, poison coated fangs into him. How he managed to defeat the beast after such a wound was a mystery.

"You are lucky to be alive," she commented as she inspected the wound, pressing on it to push copious amounts of pus from it. The sight might have nauseated her in another lifetime, but since her stupid flight from Calabria, she had seen too much to be affected now.

Wiping away the noxious mass, she applied a salve and then placing her hand on the wound, she began to murmur. The fire from her spell would close the wound and burn any poison remaining in his body.

Of course he knew she was there even though he could not see her or hear her. His body knew. If he had any feeling for her, any pride left, he would be ashamed to realize that she was seeing him at his absolute worst. Amyr would soon be dead. The fight with the grendel had gone poorly because he could not concentrate when he knew she was on the same planet. She had bewitched him with her sorcery and he could not control his reaction to her. How long had she had this power over him? Had she bespelled him the first time they had met? Was that why he thought of her when he was with other women after she had returned to her system? When she saw him with another woman that night, she had hexed him so he could not be with another.

The wound on his thigh began to tingle and then burn, and while he might have groaned at the pain, at least he felt something. Now he could hear buzzing, a humming that thrummed through his body until heat suddenly whooshed through him and he could hear her murmuring a spell.

Bitch! She was a sorceress! Just as he had suspected!

"Did you say something?" Her face loomed above him, and his vision returned so that he could see that hated visage, more beautiful than he remembered with features that had refined during their separation, lips that seemed fuller, lips he wanted against his own. Remembering how she had looked when he became aware of her that afternoon had the power to make him shudder with need so powerful that he felt faint. Ryanwin had used him mercilessly, selfishly gratifying herself while he could feel nothing but pain from her rough handling. There had been no relief for him, and despite her enjoyment, Ryanwin scorned him as a useless male.

Unable to look anywhere but at her, he remembered how she had looked when he saw her in the sunshine, her thick lustrous flaming hair framing her face and falling over her shoulders in glorious waves down her back. Now it was confined in a braid that reminded him of her father and her cursed bastard brother, may he rot in the depths of hell.

"Can you speak?" she asked.

Amyr thought he might be able to speak, especially as feeling returned to his limbs, but he did no more than blink at her. He did not trust himself to say something he would regret, something that might make her use her powers against him. She would be surprised to discover he had his own powers, although his newly discovered Guerani powers had grown weaker as he remained away from Calabria far from the sacred hills. He had her and her bastard brother to blame for keeping him from developing to his full potential, and knowing that she was still alive gave him a reason to survive now, to punish her for what she had done.

"Why are you here? What has become of Calabria that has caused you to be imprisoned here like this?" Her voice caught. "What of my family?"

He had no answers for her even if he wanted to speak to her. During the battle on Teralon, he had been attacked from behind and knocked unconscious. In retrospect, he was surprised he had not been killed, that the least of his concerns was his lost sword. How Taeron would have loved witnessing his humiliation! He awoke to find that he was on a transport heading away from Teralon, held in a cage with other Calabrians taken prisoner during his foolish offensive. That his men did not identify him as the crown prince which might have allowed him to be ransomed did not surprise him. They had not fought for him as they had for Taeron and would do nothing then to prevent his fate. So Amyr had chosen to prove to them that he could survive on his own merits, and he stubbornly kept his identity to himself.

Had Taeron suffered a similar fate given the ease with which the Varoonyans had repulsed the attack and overran the Calabrian camp? Was he a slave in some gods forsaken world? The thought comforted him. After their failure, a failure that he was sure would be blamed on Taeron, Amyr guessed that his father had sent Lord Duo with the full might of Calabria to wreak vengeance upon Varoonya. That was why Calabrian slaves were now scarce on frontier markets. He would not tell Quynn what he believed, even if he could speak. He wanted her to fear the worst.

"I will purchase you from Ryanwin," she announced.

Amyr wanted to laugh at her naivete, but he remained silent. She would find out soon enough the futility of dealing with his master.

"Mordrad will help me. He is a very rich man."

And why would he purchase a creature like me? wondered Amyr. Ryanwin had spoken of the hunter's penchant for seducing women. Had he grown bored with Quynn or would he reward her for the service she had rendered on her back?

She slipped her hand beneath his head and raised it. Amry could have done it himself, but he was yet unwilling to give away his condition. Unfortunately, her touch made his body rigid with need and at the moment, even the useless efforts with Ryanwin was preferable to the madness of desire he felt. Amyr had never, not even in his careless youth, felt this raw need for a female. Quynn surely knew what the hex had done to him, and yet she pretended to be oblivious as she put a flask to his lips and poured some liquid into his mouth. He had to swallow to keep from choking and when some of the liquid spilled from the corners of his mouth, she dabbed it away with the hem of her shapeless garment.

When he had finished swallowing, she gently lay his head back. "I will speak to Mordrad immediately. He will be able to make a deal with Ryannwin tonight." Her laughter sent a shiver through his body. "I don't think any woman can resist him when he is determined."

Is that what happened to you? he wanted to ask aloud. Did he have to make any effort at all to make you lie with him? Did you feel any shame bearing his child when you belong to me?

She moved out of his line of sight and he forced himself not to watch her move across the cell. After a short conversation with the guard that answered her call, she returned to where he was lying and as she waited, she used cloth torn from her tunic to wash his flesh. Amyr could not remember the last time he was clean and had ceased dreaming long ago of the sumptuous bathing chambers in his apartments at the imperial palace, at the palace on Ulfynaeus, the palace on Dagmaeus, the Edgeland fortress and the beautiful chamber planned for Guerani Palace in the sacred hills. He had been pampered and spoiled, and he had taken advantage of his status. In the past beautiful women would enter his warm perfumed baths to entertain the crown prince, but now those memories nauseated him as he was overwhelmed by Quynn's comforting touch.

The rattling of the lock made her stop her ministrations and when she moved away he was dismayed as the earthy scent of his mate was overpowered by the stench of Ryanwin.

"I see you have healed my champion." She had come closer and his flesh crawled. "I don't suppose you know that useful little spell your sorceress used on him? He was very entertaining when he couldn't move, but now I see that his flesh has shriveled."

"I do not know such spells," Quynn said and she suddenly gave a soft cry that made Amyr jerk his head in instinct to see that Ryanwin had seized her with her clawed grip.

As she pulled Quynn close, his body tensed and he was filled with an consuming urge to rip the alien woman apart, limb by limb, but he was yet unable to move. If he could, he doubted his mind could have held his body in check. What had the bitch done to him to make him need to protect her?

"Teach me the spell that you use to bring him to stud! I have a use for his manhood, not his sword arm."

"Let her go." The low voice was almost a growl and Amyr was able to see the bounty hunter standing just inside the cell, his sword dripping with the dark blue blood of the creature that had been standing guard.

Ryanwin released Quynn and then smoothed her hands over her gown while tossing back the long ropes into which her hair had been twisted. Quynn moved to stand by her lover and Amyr heard a noise that sounded like a menacing growl. It had come from him.

"I see that your champion is recovering," said the man, pointing his sword in Amyr's direction.

"Then I shall have to throw his corpse to the swine another day." Ryanwin shoved at Amyr with her foot which he longed to snap off at the ankle. "Should I let you show her how grateful you are, you useless beast? Does she excite you?"

Quynn stepped away from her protector. "If he is useless, I will purchase him from you."

The thought of her buying him like the slave he was both appalled and excited Amyr. He would despise being beholden to her and yet his body reacted predictably. Ryanwin noticed the change and she sneered at him, knowing he saw her and understood. With her he had no pride, having it stripped away each time she tried to arouse him so that she could breed him. The look in her glittering eyes told Amyr even before she spoke the words that Quynn was not going to buy a slave today.

"I have no intention of parting with my champion."

"Name your price," said the hunter. "You know I can afford anything you ask."

She laughed and ran her hand over his body, her gaze settling on Quynn who could not hide her disgust and dismay. Did she look concerned for him? Why would she care what happened to him? She didn't care when she ran away, taking his dignity and honor with her. The bitch had ground them both into the ground.

Ryanwin's touch was like ice water in his veins, easing the discomfort he felt from Quynn's nearness. "I will not sell. His only release from my service will be his death and then you may have his rotting, stinking corpse." She patted Amyr's cheek, letting her nails score his flesh enough to draw blood and he heard Quynn's breath catch in an outraged gasp.

Her protector made a sound of disgust. "Then I shall find a champion and return for his rotting, stinking corpse." The hand he put on the small of Quynn's back to escort her from the cell made that dreadful noise rise in his throat again.

Quynn turned to look at him one last time before she left with the other man.

When the outer door had closed on them, Ryanwin turned and before his eyes she grew to twice his size, her body taking its true shape. The creature seized him with clawed hands before he could react, and she jerked him up to slam against the slime-covered stone wall of his prison. She was strong enough to hold him up with one hand around his throat, and as she brought her face close to his, he felt dizzy with revulsion. She slid her tongue up his neck, then jerked his head down and he felt her sinking her fangs into the back of his neck around his spine.

The pain was excruciating, but she drank the fluid from him until she had her fill and she let him fall when she finished, licking her lips with a satisfied smile. She had never taken so much before, so he knew as he lay unable to move, that he would not be entering the arena that night. He would rather face whatever beast she sent against him to devour him, but now he was far too weak to do anything but draw breath.

"I will never let your mate have you," she told him. "I will burn your body to cinders before I let her touch you again, alive or dead."

Amyr didn't care. He would rather be burned to cinders than be touched by the sorceress that had betrayed him.


	13. Chapter 13 Stranded beyond the frontier

**Chapter 13**

"This was supposed to be a short jaunt over to Teralon." The pilot of the shuttle, Danlaer, was standing beside his copilot, Keldar, both men staring at the useless navigation system as the ship drifted, now without fuel, it's hyperdrive burned out.

"Get Lord Taeron married, get him back to Varoonya and take Prince Staefyn back to Calabria." Keldar sighed deeply and shook his head. "I should have taken the assignment hunting canyon beasts in the sacred hills instead."

I would rather be hunting canyon beasts, agreed Taeron silently. Instead he was trapped on a ship which could not be controlled, speeding through frontier space with two women, one who whined about her tragic destiny to die in space and the other who blamed him for their dire circumstances. He would rather be staring down a charging canyon beast than spend any more time than necessary with either of them.

In the three days by Calabrian time since they had lost control of the navigation system, he had seen enough of Princess Dijana to know that he could not live with the woman. If Stryfe hadn't convinced him to be more patient towards the wailing Teralonian princess, he might have denounced his vow to her after the first hour, consequences be gods damned. As for her sister, the very thought of her undermined his composure, and when they were in a room together, he lost all ability to think at all as embarrassing urges seized control of his body. Even now he shifted uncomfortably because his mind had conjured an image of her long legs and shapely backside.

Danlaer put his hand on his shoulder. "At least you could be passing your time more enjoyably."

Taeron raised a brow. Just what did he mean by that?

Keldar chuckled and was about to make a remark, but he closed his mouth and nodded toward the corridor leading to the passenger cabins. Taeron guessed who had arrived even before he heard her voice.

"Scribe! What are you doing here? You should be recording the failure of these useless Calabrians to repair this vessel!" By the gods, she did nothing but harp at him, and yet her voice made the unruly response of his body even worse.

"Yes, what are you doing here scribe?" Danlaer's voice was laced with ill-concealed humor and Keldar outright chuckled. A sweat had broken out over Taeron's brow that the men had no doubt seen.

Taeron glared at them before turning to look at Sharisse. He shouldn't have, because his blood heated even more at the sight of his wife's sister. She had not changed from the shapeless tunic that reached her knees, and yet when she moved, he could not help but notice where the colorless fabric clung to her. He shamed himself by imagining what it would be like to remove the ugly layers to find what was hidden beneath.

Why could he not feel the same desire for her sister, the woman he was pledged to spend his life with? Taeron had not spent more than a few moments with Dijana, but it was enough to know that he would not be able to perform as a mate with her. She was beautiful enough with lustrous, thick dark hair, sparkling blue eyes and flawless skin that any man would want to touch. Her sister could not be less like her with her ragged cropped hair and sallow skin. Where Dijana was curvy and soft, Sharisse was angular and thin. She was not beautiful at first glance, and yet Taeron saw only beauty when he met her clear green gaze. Her long lashes were thick and tipped with gold, gold like the strands of her hair. He should not be thinking of the hidden beauty of his wife's sister. Why did the gods give him this exasperating attraction for that unpleasant female?

Any man would envy him for the woman he should be accepting as his wife, but Taeron did not want her. How could he when the women he had been surrounded by his entire life were full of vigor? His mother had once tried to kill the emperor himself and managed to convince both him and his wife to allow her to live. Larya had fought to earn everything that had come to her, and while her methods were questionable, Taeron was proud to be her son. And his second mother, the emperor's wife, was a model for every woman on Calabria. Lady Arora had led the imperial palace guards against an assault on the palace, repelling a force twice the size of her own, and when she driven them back, she returned wearily to her chamber to give birth to Amyr. She had made a crown prince love her and because of her, he had changed the lives of all the women of Calabria. His father's wife had come into Taeron's life much later, but she was another such a strong and daring female. She had been a warrior on her world, and while she had become a nurturing healer, she was still bold enough to challenge the emperor when she believed he was wrong. Those were the women around whom he had grown up. Taeron did not want a mate the mewled and complained. He wanted one that would challenge him, like the woman who was glaring at him now.

"I cannot believe that Lord Taeron is as bumbling a fool as this debacle is proving him to be!" she snapped.

"We are having a hard time believing it as well," spoke up Danlaer with a glance from her to Taeron and back again.

Sharisse regarded Danlaer with annoyance for a moment and then approached Taeron who resisted the urge to back away lest he do something very foolish, like seize her, grasp her backside and hoist her onto the useless navigation panel where he would …

Keldar cleared his throat and Taeron felt the color rising to his cheeks. He could not read his thoughts, could he?

Sharisse was suddenly nose to nose with him, and she poked her finger into his chest. "I hope that you have been recording every moment of this fiasco because I want every man, woman and child in the Calabrian system to know what a buffoon the hero of Varoonya really is."

He realized that he had not said a word and he felt like a fool when she gave a sniff and turned on her heel to leave. As she marched away, Taeron found it difficult to breathe as he watched the movement of her hips and just as difficult to tear his eyes away. By the gods! If he did not reign in these wayward urges he was going to have to do something he had not done since his youth when one of his mother's pretty serving women had smiled at him and given him a provocative glance, and since his mother had caught him in the act, he was not about to risk shaming himself on this ship. Having to sit through one of his mother's instructions was bad enough!

"Well, you had best get your pen out and get to it, scribe," advised Keldar before both pilots burst into laughter that suggested they were not talking about a pen.

Taeron raised his hands in a silent prayer for the strength to endure before stalking down the corridor, but only after he was reasonably sure that Sharisse had ducked into the cabin she shared with her sister because he was in no frame of mind to be caught with her in the narrow corridor. Stryfe suddenly exited the cabin so quickly that Taeron imagined Sharisse seizing him by the collar of the fine tunic he wore and tossing him towards the exit.

His brother was frowning until he saw Taeron, and then smiled. "Brother, I have spent the morning with Princess Dijana and I am sure that I have convinced her that I, Lord Taeron, am not an idiot."

" _You_ are an idiot."

He seized Stryfe's arm and marched him down the corridor to the cabin that had been his, but now his brother occupied, just as he wore his clothing. Taeron was annoyed to wear his brother's garments, not because they were not as fine as the clothing Larya had packed for him, but because Stryfe's clothing was tight and the seams threatened to burst if Taeron moved too fast. Now that he was playing a different role, he was also using the much smaller cabin that had been assigned his brother. The lack of comfort didn't bother him, but seeing Stryfe stretch out on the thickly padded bed provided for Taeron annoyed him as did the piles of scrolls that filled the other cabin, some for his brother to read, others for him to write his reports. Taeron had no use for them and since the women had come aboard, Stryfe had paid little attention to his duties.

"Ah, the comforts of being the hero of Varoonya!"

"I stand by my statement, you are an idiot." Comforts? There had been few comforts in the years he had fought on Varoonya.

The smile faded from Stryfe's face. "I am sorry, brother. I see you standing there unscathed and I forget what you have gone through." He knew that Stryfe was sincere. Even before they had discovered they were blood brothers, Stryfe had befriended him and now two brothers could be no closer than he was with Stryfe. Only Amyr had known him better, and they had grown up together.

"I was responsible for archiving the accounts of the war," continued Stryfe. He shook his head. "When I read the reports arriving from the planet, I feared the next would contain word of your death. I know that the conditions were horrific on Varoonya, that between the ceaseless attacks of the thralls and the harsh climate and terrain, you had little rest and certainly no comfort. It is a credit to your command that those men that were sent back to Ulfynaeus for medical care begged to return to your side once they were healed."

Sighing, Taeron sat on the edge of the bed and with his elbows on his knees, he put his face in his hands. He did not want to remember those days on Varoonya, fighting for his life, struggling to keep his men alive, battling to free the people oppressed by the evil creatures that had enslaved nearly the entire populace of the planet. The Varoonyan overlords had manipulated the gentle, agrarian people, manipulating them by enthralling them and turning them into soulless creatures that would do their bidding or die trying. In truth they had died the moment their masters had enthralled them because they could only be released by their master's death and too few had outlived them. Taeron had slain every Varoonyan lord he could find, ending the life of the prince on the point of Amyr's sword. Only one remained and Taeron would never give up the hunt for warlord Kai.

And yet fighting against an enemy he could see was far easier than the one skulking in the shadows, pretending friendship while waiting to strike. "I pray that Staefyn does not undo all that I have accomplished on Varoonya."

"I will not believe that Staefyn had anything to do with the malfunction of the navigation system," Stryfe told him. "While you were away, I got to know him well enough to say now that he would not wish to cause harm to anyone. He is beloved of the people and has no reason to feel threatened by you."

"Nothing you say will convince me otherwise," muttered Taeron. He had been betrayed by Amyr to whom he had a personal bond. It would not be so difficult for another of Zeno's blood to do the same to him. But Stryfe was right in that Staefyn had never seemed to resent him when they were growing up, not as Amyr openly had when his successes were lauded by the emperor, probably in contrast to Amyr's failures. Taeron had never sought Trey's approval. He had done all that he could to earn the recognition of a man who seemed unable to give it, and Taeron had worked that much harder to show Lord Duo that he could be proud of him.

"They probably think we are dead," commented Stryfe.

Because of the hyperspace capabilities of the craft, they had been out of range of the communications satellites before they could contact any of the worlds in the emperor's dominion. Staefyn had been very careful in executing his scheme to be rid of Taeron.

"I think it may strain relations between Teralon and Calabria," said Stryfe with a sigh. "This marriage was supposed to have strengthened Teralon, and now Balak will retaliate."

Taeron grunted dismissively. "They are not capable of fighting Calabria. Nor did they seem overly concerned about the safety of their princess. If they were, they would have waited for us to land on the planet so that I could join with her in formal ceremony. I am insulted by their disregard, both for me and her."

Where had that speech come from? They were words his mother would have said, not Taeron after having grown up with the scorn and disapproval of the imperial nobility. He hadn't allowed himself the luxury of feeling personal insult, not after driving the Varoonyans off Teralon when Balak had been grossly discourteous to the commander of the army that had liberated his people. The only reason he could imagine for the rudeness of the Teralonians was that they had not forgotten or forgiven the second battle on the planet, the one he had slept through in the arms of two Teralonian whores that he did not remember.

"They must believe me to be a coward," he muttered aloud at the memory.

"I had thoroughly described the event in the report to the emperor which he sent on to Teralon," Stryfe told him. "You are no coward!"

Taeron shook his head. "Perhaps not then, but I freely admit to you brother that I was afraid to claim my bride and put it off. I was afraid that what has come to pass would come to pass, that I would not want her."

Stryfe rubbed his shoulder in a comforting manner that reminded Taeron of his father's wife. Lady Trynity had done this more than once to him and he often saw her giving this comfort to her husband. "I do not understand your reluctance, Taeron. Princess Dijana is beautiful."

"You are right, she pleases the eye, but I do not find her appealing," he told Stryfe. How could he describe the instinct he felt that she was not right for him? Stryfe would think him demented if he admitted his attraction to the unpleasant female that had accompanied her.

"I find her very appealing," said Stryfe.

Taeron turned his head to look at him. "You have not dishonored her, have you?" Since coming to Calabria, Stryfe had not felt constrained to follow their practices concerning women. In that way he was like Amyr.

Stryfe chuckled. "I am not about to end my life on the point of your sword!"

Taeron stared at him silently for a moment, wondering if Stryfe's careless disregard for females might save him from the marriage he did not want. "If you were to dishonor the female … "

The smile faded from Stryfe's face and he interrupted him before Taeron could finish. "Brother, those are hardly the words I would expect to hear from a man of your honor."

Taeron jumped to his feet and he began to pace. "I cannot take her as my mate!" He thrust his fingers into his hair to grasp his head. "I know that I must, but I cannot lie with her."

"You have lain with plenty of women," scoffed Stryfe.

When Taeron turned to look at Stryfe his brother's jaw dropped.

"You haven't?"

"Why should you believe otherwise?" demanded Taeron. What man of any honor would mate with a female to whom he had not given a bond? The emperor had forbade all such practices, making offenses punishable.

"But...but all the women...and being with Amyr..."

"Amyr did as Amyr wished," snapped Taeron irritably. "The emperor rebuked him many times for his dishonorable behavior, but that did not stop him." He gave his brother a pointed look and Stryfe lowered his head. His brother did not understand, nor did he care about the Calabrian code of honor.

Stryfe did not respond for several moments and Taeron hoped he was reconsidering his own behavior with women. Finally he shook his head. "I am sorry, Taeron. Your culture is so different from my own, from the culture of our father. I do not even think he realizes how his refusal of your mother's claims affected you."

"I saw on your planet, how males and females interacted, but you must have realized that is not the way on Calabria. Once we have taken a mate and formed the bond, it is irrevocable, and it is far too easy to be tricked by the wrong female when distracted." His hands dropped to his side. "I have always thought that when I made my bond it would be with a woman that I loved, not one that I am obligated to take as my mate." He hoped that he did not sound resentful of the honor the emperor had given him, even if he felt it in his heart.

"Hey, brother, just watching my parents gaze at each other makes me want the same," Stryfe commiserated. "And I have spent enough time in the imperial household with the emperor to know that what he feels for his wife is deep and joyous. I am sorry that you do not feel that you can love Princess Dijana."

Taeron took the seat on the edge of the bed again. "I do not wish to bond with Princess Dijana, and yet I cannot break the pact without good cause. I have given an unbreakable oath that would not only shame my father should I break it, it could also mean my life."

"I am not going to sacrifice what little honor I have to get you out of this mess," Stryfe grinned at him. "Beside, you really don't want to face me in honorable duel do you? Who would be left to write about it?"

"I cannot do it!" Dijana paced the large cabin, her hand clenched into fists at her side. "I will not marry that oaf!"

"You are all but married to him already," pointed out Sharisse as she lay on her side on the large bed that had been provided for the use of the new couple. Just the sight of it and imagining what she must do sickened Dijana. She could not do that with the man she had sent out of the chamber. His silly grin told her that he did not take anything seriously. Beyond a cursory inspection of the navigation that elicited no more than a shrug, he had done nothing about their desperate circumstances. He was more interested in flirting with Sharisse, and finding them lying on the bed together moments ago irritated her as much as his spineless brother had in the control room.

"We are not mated until...until..." She made a sound of disgust. "I cannot even say it in connection with that idiot."

Sharisse smiled. "I think you might be able to consider it with his handsome scribe."

The scribe. Dijana's stride caught and she almost stumbled over the corner of the bed. That man was infuriating! Despite being the son of the most respected of Emperor Trey's warriors, he wielded a pen! Had he said even more than a handful of words in the days that they had been together? Did he return to his cabin to write would he could not say?

But her sister had the right of it. He was handsome, with his dark hair and midnight blue eyes. But he was certainly vain because his clothing was too tight drawing attention to muscles that might have been impressive on a warrior but were wasted on a scribe, further proof of his excessive vanity.

Lord Taeron was an attractive man as well, but Dijana knew she was not destined for the hero of Varoonya. Her father was disposing of her in a way that would exonerate him, because when Lord Taeron learned what had happened during the Varoonyan occupation, he would not just reject her, but he would probably end her life as her father expected. Balak could then complain to the emperor and Trey would have to appease him by returning autonomy to Teralon. Dijana was a pawn and nothing more, a means for her father to regain what he had lost in having to accept the emperor's aid in ridding Teralon of the pestilence of Varoonya.

Shortly before boarding the transport that would take her to the Calabrian warlord, Dijana had gone to her father one last time to beg him to break the pact.

"Please do not make me do this!" she had cried, falling to her knees before him. She had done this another time when it potentially meant her life and death and he had not been swayed. What made her think the outcome would be any different this time?

She did not care that the entire court had witnessed her plea. They stood silently watching her with as little sympathy as the man that looked down on her with contempt. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed that her father had summoned them to witness her humiliation, as if he knew that Dijana would break down with the cowardice that had overcome her.

Balak had glared down at her, the disgust easy to read in his eyes and in the curl of his lips. She had hoped that the queen would return to see her off, but the woman had not even sent her a message wishing her well. Queen Neria had washed her hands of Dijana long ago, relegating her upbringing to others. She had born her husband an heir and after birthing a spare female, she left the court for the palace far from her husband's side.

"You will do as I say!" thundered the queen's consort, the commander of her winged warriors. Then he leaned forward to say for only her to hear, "I have no desire for you to offend me with your presence any longer! You disgust me, and I pray that Lord Taeron rids me quickly of the abomination that is the shame of our people."

Dijana did not bother looking at Avar when she knew he would be just as glad to hear of her death. He would be even more glad to bring it about himself. His wife looked as if she would speak, but Avar grasped Princess Chaela's arm and jerked her away before she could utter a sound. Dijana had wanted to scream in frustration at the unfairness of their condemnation, but it would do her no good. She was a freak in their eyes; she was a freak in her own eyes.

"You are not going to cry!" Sharisse said with frown.

"I am not crying," sniffed Dijana as she wiped away some moisture from her eyes. She had lived through too much to crumble now.

"You are my sister. I love you and I would do anything to help you." Sharisse moved to sit near Dijana and she brushed back Dijana's hair before kissing her cheek. Dijana suffered it in silence although she felt the insincerity. Sharisse had never liked her, and she could afford to pretend that she cared now because she would soon be rid of her. "I am certain that Lord Taeron would not be averse to taking me as his wife.

Dijana stared at her, the coward in her grasping for any chance to live, even this half-life she had been allowed. "Do you believe we can continue in this lie?"

"My father only wants you gone. While he expects Lord Taeron to kill you, that does not have to be the only outcome." The words hurt to hear aloud even though Dijana knew they were true. "As we discussed, I will take your place and live as Lord Taeron's mate on Varoonya or Calabria, and by the time I have given him a child, he will not care."

"What will become of me?" she muttered. The future seemed bright for her sister but not less dark for herself.

"I will convince Lord Taeron to allow you to stay with us. Perhaps he can provide a place for you far from his people where you cannot..." She didn't finish and Dijana was glad because she could not bear to think about what she had become, what she had brought on herself. But going to Varoonya was very much the death sentence that her father had intended and she told Sharisse as much.

"Then you should try harder to make the scribe desire you as his mate so that he will take you to Calabria with him. We know that his family is very important to Lord Taeron and he would never intentionally cause his brother pain. If he grew to care about you, Lord Stryfe would be your shield and you can live out your life, such as it is, as his mate."

"Lord Stryfe!" Dijana sputtered with indignation. "How could a scribe protect me?" A scribe who had difficulty putting two words together when they were in the same room. Not that she hadn't noticed how tall he was, how he walked with the arrogance and self-confidence that she associated with powerful Calabrian males. Although he was human, Stryfe was a distracting male. If this was how scribes were on Calabria, she wondered how brutish the warriors were. Lord Taeron could not be a good example!

"You prefer the scribe," Sharisse goaded her.

Dijana looked at her. "He shows me no interest."

Sharisse laughed. "You are so naive, my sister! I have never seen a male watch you with as much interest as he has, except perhaps..."

Dijana did not want to be reminded of that Varoonyan bastard so she interrupted her. "Are you so sure that Stryfe would betray his own brother like that?"

"He thinks you are me," Sharisse reminded her. "As I said, we shall continue as we are and once you have made him mindless with desire for you, then we shall tell the truth. By that time neither men will care, certainly not my Lord Taeron."

Dijana cursed whatever god had put the fool notion in her head to lie about her identity in the first place. Lord Taeron was going to be offended enough, but now...

"Don't think about it," Sharisse warned her. "Or you will be unable to do it."

"I will be unable to do it anyway," snapped Dijana. "I know nothing of men and seductions. That is your area of expertise."

Sharisse laughed softly. "How difficult can if be to seduce a man who spent his days locked away with pens and ink and scrolls?"

A light was blinking at the communicator and Dijana stepped over to it, pressing the button to link with the pilots.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"I thought you might want to be forewarned. There is a vessel approaching and I doubt they are going to be offering to help. Lord Taeron insists that you remain in your cabin."

Dijana was about to snap that she could take care of herself, but Sharisse hurried to respond. "Thank Lord Taeron for his concern. We will remain in the cabin."


	14. Chapter 14 Reunion on Norvana

**Chapter 14**

By the time they returned to Norvana, Quynn had yet to come up with any plan to rescue Amyr. Mordrad reminded her more than once that the she-beast Ryanwin would not part with him alive, and since he was an unbeatable champion, the likelihood of them taking him dead was slim. Their only alternatives were to find a champion of their own that could best him or capture a monster that he could not destroy as he had the grendel. In the event that they were successful, Quynn was confident that Carrinda could revive him once they took him away from Ryanwin. Quynn did not know how she was going to feel watching Amyr die, but she was going to have to do it in order to save him.

Since they had to find a champion, Quynn suggested that if Amyr had been purchased, there may be more Calabrians in the slave markets. Although the Varoonyan slave traders had captured and sold many several years ago, there were none to be had now. But Mordrad had contacts and he managed to find a handful yet living whose masters could be persuaded to part with them for an exhorbitant price. Unfortunately, while the Calabrian warriors confessed they would enjoy nothing more than carving up crown prince who they blamed for their enslavement, they dared not risk the wrath of the emperor.

After several days, she was back in her own cottage sharing a bowl of stew with Carrinda wondering what she could do to help Amyr. "I do not have a good conscience about leaving him back there," she told her friend although a very small vindictive part of her liked that he was being punished.

"I understand," said Carrinda as she stirred the stew.

Quynn sighed as she rested her chin on her hand. "Yori asked about the man in the market and I did not know what to say."

"Tell him the truth, that he is his father."

"You too!" exclaimed Quynn with exasperation. "I never knew Prince Amyr that way."

"Be that as it may, I believe that he is the boy's sire." Carrinda shrugged. "But I may be wrong."

The problem was that Carrinda was not usually known to be wrong. And Quynn did not want to admit that she had known Amyr intimately in a dream. It could not have been more than a dream, and yet how had Jeshed come to be in her dream? She had convinced herself that Malya had given her the dream to make her surrogate pregnancy more palatable. Quynn knew her mother would love to solve the puzzle of how Yori had come to be. Unfortunately, Quynn doubted she would ever see her mother again, and while that thought used to sadden her, she knew it was for the best. She could not explain her child and no one would believe her, and she would receive the same pitying looks that the Calabrians Mordrad had purchased now gave her when they saw her with Yori.

A short knock at the door preceded Mordrad's entrance into her cottage. "Ah, you are eating. Is there enough of the stew to share?"

Quynn stood to get him a serving but Mordrad took her seat and proceeded to eat the remaining contents of her bowl. "I cannot believe you are not fed adequately at the castle."

"But nothing quite so delicious as your stew, my dear." He held out the now empty bowl and Quynn exchanged it for the one she had filled. "I saw Yori at the stream fishing with that man …."

"Andwar," she supplied the name. Andwar was one of the Calabrians that had been purchased, and since he had young brothers back on Calabria, he was happy to spend time with her fatherless child. Andwar had given her some information about what had happened to Prince Amyr, probably because he believed Yori was Amyr's son, and she did not tell him that the prince yet lived when he had spat his name as a curse. The Varoonyans had attacked Teralon and Emperor Trey had sent the crown prince with an army to save his daughter's world. After an initial victory, Prince Amyr had led an offensive to rid the planet of the invaders and it had turned into a debacle. None of the Calabrians that had been taken prisoner knew what had become of Prince Amyr or Lord Taeron who they seemed to grieve more than their own prince.

"Well, I wanted to let you know..."

Before he could finish, the door burst open. "My lady!" cried Andwar excitedly. "The Norvanans have brought back a Calabrian vessel! We are to be rescued!" He hurried away without any further news.

Quynn looked at Mordrad. "Is that why you have come here?"

"Indeed. A scouting party found the disabled ship adrift in space and they could have let salvagers take it, but decided to save me the expense of buying more Calabrians." Mordrad rubbed his hands together as he stood. "Emperor Trey is going to owe me an enormous amount of credits and good will before this is over."

Carrinda stood. "Do you want me to watch Yori as you go speak to the Calabrians?"

"I suppose that would be for the best." Quynn would rather not have to explain Yori unless she had to. Now she just wanted news from home, to find out if her family was safe.

Mordrad waited for her, and as she reached him, he belched noisily. "You cook a fine stew."

"Carrinda cooked the stew," Quynn told him wryly, suspecting that he already knew. They walked along in silence for several moments, in the direction of the landing site where even from a distance she could make out the shape of a Calabrian short range shuttle. That type of craft could not have been sent to rescue anyone, had probably run out of fuel long ago.

After a moment, Mordrad remarked, "If we can make repairs to the ship..."

"That ship cannot make the return trip," she told him. "I am surprised it has lasted as long as it has without adequate shielding."

"But your ship has need of only a few parts and those may be salvaged from the Calabrian vessel."

"I cannot return," she said sadly. "I do not even know what there is to return to."

They came to the landing field then as Mordrad's men were opening the hatch. As the pressure seal broke, the men fell back as the door slammed open and a man burst out, swiping out his long sword in a wide arc as he flipped in the air before landing on his feet, his stance wide, sword held before him in a threatening manner.

"For the love of all the gods!" muttered Mordrad in awe as his gaze ran the length of the deadly blade to the warrior that held it.

But Quynn felt her whole being filled with joy. "Taeron!" Mordrad's restraining hand could not stop her from running to her brother.

Without acknowledging the sister he surely thought dead, Taeron snagged her around the waist and dragged her behind him where she was amazed to find her twin brother Stryfe exiting the vessel. At least he had the decency to be shocked by her appearance. He crushed her in an embrace as Taeron shielded her from the non-threatening men who stared at him with wonder. Quynn could hardly blame them. Taeron had long since proven that he was a god with a sword in his hand.

Stryfe was whispering in her ear as he held her tightly against him. "We will talk later, but I want you to call me Taeron."

"What?" After not seeing her in years, probably believing she was dead, this was how he greeted her?

"I will explain later." He spoke over her head. "Put away that sword before you hurt yourself, brother."

Quynn cocked a brow at her brother, then at Taeron to whom he had spoken to as if he were some sort of fool. She had grown up with Stryfe, so she knew he was capable of some ridiculous escapades, but she could not imagine Taeron agreeing to one.

"Yes, uh, Stryfe, put away the sword." Her other brother obeyed and there was a panicked look in his eyes as he gazed past her, so she turned expecting to see a three headed gorgon spitting acid.

Instead, two women emerged from the ship, one bedraggled and glaring, the other beautiful and peering about fearfully as she daintily left the ship. By their heart-shaped faces and fine facial features, Quynn guessed they were Teralonian females. What were her brothers doing beyond the frontier, lying about their identity, traveling with Teralonian women? It certainly seemed like something her brother would be involved in, but not Taeron.

"Where are we?" The taller of the two, clutching chakrams in her hands looked ready to fight although the men with Mordrad viewed them with the same bemusement Quynn felt.

Mordrad stepped forward to speak, but they didn't understand him anyway, so Quynn turned to them. "You are on the world of Norvana."

"You speak our language," stated the taller woman whose frown had grown deeper. "Who are you that you would know these two fools?"

Quynn glanced between Taeron and Stryfe, considering briefly that she had at least pegged Stryfe correctly, but she wondered how she could lump Taeron in with him. What game were they playing? Or had she fallen asleep and this was another vivid dream? Deciding it could only be a dream, she smiled at the woman who did not react to her friendly overture. "I am Quynn Maxwell. Taeron and Stryfe are my brothers."

The other woman's arched brows shot up and she took in Stryfe and Taeron with a caustic glare. "You brought us to this strange world to visit your sister? This sister who has been lost to you? I see that she has not been so lost as you would have all believe!"

Stryfe opened his mouth to speak, but Taeron stepped forward, his face hard as stone. "What are you implying, female?"

"That the house of Lord Duo Maxwell is filled with liars and schemers!"

Taeron jerked in reaction to the insult, but before he could reach for the sword which he had hidden somewhere when the women appeared, Stryfe flew to him and seized his arm. "Rein your temper brother," he said through gritted teeth.

The bold female tossed her head. "What do you expect him to do?" she sneered at them. "Attack me with his pen?"

Taeron attack with a pen? Having heard Stryfe lament about his deplorable lack of education, Quynn guessed that was all Taeron could do with a pen, but she doubted that was what the woman referred to.

Stryfe turned to look at her. "Do you doubt the power of the pen, Lady Sharisse? When he submits the account of this adventure – and he will submit a very detailed account – it will include all of your words and actions. He does not forget even the smallest detail. That is what makes him valuable as the emperor's scribe."

The other woman had watched the exchange with a mixture of horror and odd anticipation, but now she stepped forward to lay her hand on the taller woman's arm. "Sister, do not antagonize the family of my bespoken mate."

Mate? Interesting. Quynn forced herself to smile although she was wondering who was mated to who. "Come with me. Carrinda can fit you with a device so that you can understand the others." Then she looked at Mordrad. "You can have the men see what they can salvage from their ship to use in mine. I am sure my brothers need to return to Calabria."

Mordrad chuckled as he viewed the group. "I wager that this will be a most interesting visit. Bring them to the castle later so that we can welcome them properly."

Two other men stepped out of the shuttle and Quynn recognized them immediately because she had spent many days with the pilots on Calabria. "Keldar and Danlaer! What are you doing here?"

"Lady Quynn! I think we should ask the same of you."

"Say is that the prototype from Earth that you stole?"

She blushed as she looked at the derelict ship that was nearly covered in vines that had grown over it in the years she had been here. "I had some difficulties."

Keldar snorted. "We had some difficulties as well. But the emperor received the other crafts from the Cinq Kingdom and we have had extensive training so we might be able to fix your ship."

"Lord Mordrad's men have given up," she admitted. Her grandfather's design was too original and there were no parts that could be fitted to her ship to make it operable. But Mordrad's idea of taking parts from the new ship had merit. "Come with me and after you have had the language chip implanted, you can speak to his mechanics."

Although she was brimming with questions, Quynn waited until Carrinda had made the necessary implants. The woman she learned was Princess Dijana cried piteously although Quynn knew the pain was less than a mild sting thanks to Carrinda's magic. Her sister took the implant with not so much as a flinch as did Taeron, and while Stryfe winced, he also complained that he considered the chip unnecessary until a glare from Taeron silenced him. When she finished, Carrinda escorted the women from Quynn's cottage to her own where they would be staying until arrangements could be made to return them to the binary system.

Once they were far enough away, Quynn threw her arms around Stryfe and held him close, the tears spilling over her lashes and down her cheeks. "I did not think I would ever see you again," she sobbed. She turned to look at Taeron, holding out her hand and drawing him close to join the hug when he took it.

For a long time they said nothing as they held each other, until finally Quynn sighed and looked at Taeron's face. He seemed so different, so much more mature, as if life had been hard for him. "I feared you were dead. When I saw Amyr without you on another planet..."

"You saw Amyr!" Taeron's exclamation was hoarse with emotion, wonder, anger, she wasn't' sure which one although it seemed to be all of them.

"That bastard is alive?" asked Stryfe with a shake of his head.

Quynn frowned. "You will have to explain to me what he has done. Whatever it was, it cannot be worth the enslavement that he has endured."

Taeron did not speak, so whatever Amyr had done to him was a raw wound. Fortunately, as Stryfe had bragged, the emperor's scribe forgot no detail, so he gave her both the official and unofficial account of what had happened on Teralon. That Amyr could be so careless with the lives of his men did not surprise her. The spoiled prince had never known a day of want in his life and he had proven he did not give a damn about anybody but himself. But she was appalled that he tried to discredit Taeron not only in the eyes of his men but in the eyes of all of Calabria.

Throughout the story, Taeron sat stonily silent, and when Stryfe finished, Quynn did not know what to say. So the three sat not looking at each other until Stryfe finally said, "Lord Taeron should probably look in on his oath sworn wife."

Quynn shook her head. "How long do you think you can keep up this act?"

"She is right, brother. If they had seen you with your sword, the game would be up." Stryfe chuckled as he headed to the door. "I don't want to be in your boots when Sharisse discovers just exactly who she has been insulting. The woman has to live in your house!"

Quynn stared at the door long after her twin left, but she had no choice now but to turn to Taeron. They had not spoken since the day he had tried to persuade her not to commit to Amyr. She had foolishly ignored his advice, so she had no one to blame but herself for what had happened.

"I am sorry, sister." He spoke first, his voice filled with remorse.

Tears stung her eyes because she guessed that he blamed himself for what had happened to her. Taking both his hands, she moved so that she could look up to his face and he had no choice but to meet her gaze. "You are not at fault for anything."

"I should have stopped you that night."

"You tried to stop me earlier that day from making a terrible mistake, but I ignored you," she reminded him. "I think stubbornness is a trait the children of Duo Maxwell share."

"But your decision had been made, the vows spoken." Taeron shook his head. "I should have convinced Amyr..."

Quynn laughed and squeezed his hands. "Convince Amyr? Listen to yourself, brother! It was not, and never will be, possible to convince that selfish bastard of anything!"

Taeron straightened his shoulders. "You are sure that he is still alive?"

For the first time since admitting to Mordrad that he was right, that Amyr was beyond her reach, Quynn had hope. "He is a slave, a fighting champion whose owner will not release him except as a lifeless body, defeated in combat."

"Then I have something to return to him." From somewhere – someday Quynn would discover just where – Taeron drew the sword he had been carrying and Quynn was shocked to see that it was the sword of the crown prince of Calabria. Quynn knew that carrying the sword was a source of pride to Amyr.

"What are you doing with Amyr's sword?" she asked, amazed by the long blade and the gems decorating the hilt. Despite its beauty, she knew that it was as deadly as any imperial sword, that it had been used to slay more than one emperor to begin the reign of another. Amyr would not have used it against his own father, but would have passed it to his son. Quynn knew that Amyr would be furious to learn that Taeron carried his sword.

"Gracious lady Arora gave it to me," he told her. "When I returned from Varoonya, I placed it in the emperor's hands and he gave it to her. But she returned it to me, telling me that I would know what to do with it."

"She must have sensed with her magic that Amyr was alive." Everything that Stryfe had told her now made sense. "Taeron! She must have known that now was the time to bring her son home! That is why Trey sent for you, why he put Staefyn on your ship, why Staefyn must have rerouted the navigation. He was doing it on his mother's orders so that you could find Amyr!"

Taeron shook his head. "No! I will not believe such a thing!"

"I know you cannot trust them, but you can see now that you were meant to be here, to help Amyr, to take him back to Calabria."

"I will not be fooled again," snarled Taeron angrily. He raised the sword and Quynn knew how the Varoonyans that had fallen under that blade must have felt. "And you should not be fooled into believing that Staefyn had any motive except selfishness in sending my shuttle to the frontier. Finding you, finding Amyr is a coincidence that will ultimately displease Staefyn because it will destroy any plans he has made to move against his father."

Quynn shook her head. "I am sorry that you can no longer trust Amyr and Staefyn when they were once your brothers. You have good reason not to trust Amyr, but Staefyn? I cannot believe he is capable of duplicity. If you do not believe that Staefyn could be helping his brother, then believe that the gods sent you here so that you could return Amyr to where he belongs."

"You are believer in our gods now?" he asked, his voice as mocking as she had been years ago when her mother had begun to believe.

She felt the blood rise to her cheeks and was about to tell him that she had come to believe many things that she hadn't thought possible, but the door suddenly burst open and Taeron reacted, moving swiftly to put him and his dangerous blade between Quynn and the intruder.

The intruder proved to be a child who seemed oblivious of the danger although Quynn's bracelet vibrated on her wrist, warning her that the dragon felt threatened.

"Mama! Mordrad told me that your brothers have come, that one of your brothers is a god! You did not tell me that your brother was a god!" The small boy stood beneath Taeron like a lamb before the slaughter. Yori's gaze traveled the length of the sword and then up to Taeron's face, his soft brown eyes wide with wonder. "Are you a god?"

Slowly, Taeron lowered the sword, and Quynn saw the color drain from his face from the shock he was obviously feeling to be standing over her son. "I am no god," he finally said. "I am but a fool." With that, he sheathed the sword before stomping past Yori to leave Quynn with the boy.

Yori watched him go with disappointment on his face. "Your brother does not like me."

"You have just surprised him," she told him as she combed her fingers through his dark hair. "Wait here and I will bring my other brother meet you."

Confident that he would obey her, she hurried out of the cottage and found Taeron not so very far away, swiping his sword and practicing moves that he had done thousands of times before in the training that had made him what he was. If she hadn't known before, she surely did now that Taeron did this to ease the pain he had suffered from his father's rejection. He was doing it now to work through his anger.

"I know what you are thinking," she started, but he cut her off with a swipe of the sword that made the air whistle.

He held the sword before him. "You do not know what I think."

"You think that Amyr and I ..."

"When?" he demanded. "When could he have dishonored my sister when I spent all my moments with him? There was no opportunity!" His voice was raised in anger and she flinched. Quynn had never seen Taeron in this state before and she wondered if her father's reaction would be any less frightening.

"Like the Guerani snake that he is, he waited until he could trap you in his world."

Quynn stared at him incredulously, and then she shook her head vehemently. "No! It is not possible!" The thought nauseated her, that her dream had been more than a dream. The things they had done, the awful words he had spoken to her sickened her enough when she believed it had been a dream.

Taeron took a step towards her, Amyr's sword still in his hand. "Where did he take you in his trance? He spoke often of looking forward to taking his bride to Guerani Palace. Is that where he took you?"

Quynn had difficulty thinking as her head swam with the realization that Taeron could be right. She had never been to the palace and it seemed so real in the dream.

"He dishonored you at your betrothal and made a mockery of your vows!" Taeron was shouting angrily now. His anger was a force that made the dragon growl and Quynn feared it would make an appearance.

Still, she shook her head. After humiliating her at the ceremony on Ulfynaeus, could Amyr then have dishonored her as well? How could he have used his Guerani powers to do something so despicable?

Taeron shook his head sadly and he reached out to take her hands. His touch was comforting and calmed her dragon. "Beloved sister, he could never have cared about you as you cared for him. You deserved better. I am sure that Amyr brought you into a trance. I saw how trances affected Princess Shamara. They have the power to transport one from this world to another, to effect change in this world from the other. He forced me into one of his trances against my will!"

"No," she whispered, still refusing to believe that Amyr would do that to her.

He gestured towards her cottage. "That boy is Amyr's son!"

She raised her wrist where the bracelet was glowing. "No, he is the child of that sorceress of Zayron. She put this on my wrist and she gave me her child."

"If it eases your mind to believe that," snapped Taeron, "so be it! I know the truth. Amyr is every bit as treacherous as Staefyn. I will go to that world where Amyr is imprisoned, and I will face Amyr in honorable combat, if such a thing is possible with that Guerani demon. And I will take great pleasure in feeding his blood to his own sword!"

He turned on his heel and stalked away, and Quynn watched him silently, not knowing what to say or what to feel. She could not allow herself to believe him. Yori could not be her child! He could not be Amyr's son!

"You know that he could be right."

She turned to find Carrinda and Mordrad watching her. "I cannot believe him."

"Because to believe him would make you seem a bigger fool than you already feel, having trusted this undeserving male?" asked Mordrad, his face impassive.

"I suppose you would laud his cleverness at how he took his revenge on us all!" Quynn felt tears threatening to spill over her lashes. If Taeron was right, Quynn was completely dishonored by Amyr's actions.

"If what your brother says turns out to be true, I would like to kill the bastard with my own hands," Mordrad told her. "I cannot believe that you deserved to be so ill-treated."

Quynn fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands as she remembered the humiliation Amyr had made her feel in her dream. "I...I loved him so much and he betrayed me."

"Do you believe that your brother can best him in combat?" asked Mordrad. "I watched him practice his moves and I have never seen a man move so swiftly."

Looking up, Quynn sighed and said, "He is the imperial guard of the crown prince, a position for which he has trained very hard all his life. There is no man more qualified to protect Prince Amyr, and he was called upon to do so many times. The bastard paid him back with treachery." Looking up, she met Mordrad's gaze. "I think my brother would take great pleasure in killing him."

Mordrad smiled. "Then I will make preparations to leave after sunrise tomorrow. Tell your brother he will have his chance to exact his revenge."


	15. Chapter 15 The champion falls

**Chapter 15**

"You are going to die this day."

Amyr had heard Ryanwin say this every day before he stepped into the arena. But today she seemed to be gleeful in her announcement. Still he did not look at her as the guards worked to remove the shackles from his wrists and ankles. Amyr did not care if he lived or died, preferred to die but his body would not allow him. Whatever she sent against him, man or beast, he would defeat it and return to his cell until his master came to feed from him.

"You have nothing to say, Calabrian?" She did not even know his name, had never cared enough to ask. To her he was a source of nourishment and income, no better than a mindless beast in her eyes.

Amyr did not intend to die that day, so he ignored her. After the last shackle had been removed, he rolled his shoulders before doing the exercises that would stretch his muscles. He hadn't fought in several days so he was stiff, and he was eager to enter the arena even if it meant he must suffer her feeding from him after his victory.

"You are so confident. Would you still be so confident if I tell you that Mordrad has come with his witches?"

Amyr jerked his head up to look at her face in silent question. He had doubted Quynn's ability to find a way to release him, hadn't dared to think about her grand plan to free him from his captivity. Many days had passed since he had seen her and Ryanwin had taken her stable of fighters to another planet. Quynn was probably glad to be rid of him, but if she did try to save him, she would not succeed. Ryanwin had made the conditions of his release clear, even if she had lied. Mordrad would have to find a champion would could kill Amyr and if that is what Mordrad had done, Amyr did not feel like dying.

She laughed and licked her lips. "He has brought a fighter that Mordrad is sure can defeat you. I hope that he does because I tire of you. The challenger excites me in ways that you have failed to do." The direction of her gaze left him no doubt as to her meaning.

For that reason alone he would deny her the pleasure Mordrad's fighter would give her. Quynn was deluding herself if she thought she could best Ryanwin, whether her champion defeated him or not.

His guards prodded him forward at the edge of their spears as well as threatening him with the control device for his slave collar. When they reached the doors to the arena, Amyr waited impatiently for the guards to remove the collar. He was eager to face a formidable opponent, and he knew that the alien lord would not bring a challenge unless he was reasonably sure that he would win. Amyr would enjoy proving him wrong.

The heavy doors to the arena swung open and Amyr walked out into the sandy pit ringed by seating for hundreds of spectators. By the drone of voices, he knew before looking up that the arena was filled to capacity, that people would be standing in the aisles to watch the fight. They were shouting bets on the outcome and Amyr could hear that they wagered on him.

The battered sword he was allowed to use was planted in the ground at the center, so without looking for Ryanwin and her guests, he strode across the expanse, and when he seized the hilt, he reveled in the cheers of the crowd as he raised the sword high in salute to his master. Despite her disgust with him, the populace adored him as the people of Calabria never had.

He turned to face the wide doors on the other side of the arena to wait as the guards took the handles and slowly opened the doors. Amyr was expecting a beast captured on another planet, or even the dragon it was rumored that Mordrad's summoner could call upon. The crowd had quieted as well, anticipating an exciting fight with a champion worthy to challenge Amyr. But instead of a monster, a man stepped through the doors and as the crowd groaned in disappointment, expecting Amyr to make short work of a two-legged creature, Amyr's breath caught in his throat and his heart seemed to stop beating.

The man who approached him wore the traditional garb of a Calabrian imperial warrior, but he was no stranger to Amyr. He had changed in the years since he had last seen him, but there was no mistaking his identity. Taeron of house Maxwell seemed taller, his face hard and emotionless as he came closer, eyes intent upon Amyr. Amyr knew him, and he knew one thing for certain; he had never bested Taeron in the past, but he would not, could not fall to him now. Today Taeron was in his arena, right where he wanted him, and Amyr planned to make him pay for what he had done to him.

Taeron came to a stop a sword's length from Amyr. His indigo gaze, so much like the man Amyr considered his second father, took in his appearance, from his unkept, filthy hair and raggedly cropped beard, over his grimey flesh down to his bare feet. When he raised his eyes to meet Amyr's gaze, Amyr felt shame to the tips of his toes as Taeron bowed low. "My prince."

Amyr's blood ran hot and cold with fury at the greeting. "Would you raise your sword to me? To me? You have pledged your life to me!" He did not care who heard his words.

Taeron straightened. "I have pledged to _protect_ you." His eyes flicked to the weapon in Amyr's hand and Amyr could see his contempt for the serviceable steel before Taeron hand reached into his robe and he withdrew a sword that made Amyr gasp with outrage. Taeron held before him the sword of the crowned prince of Calabria.

"My sword!" he choked out although anger was making it hard for him to speak. "What are you doing with my sword, you bastard?"

"I was given the sword by your own mother." Taeron readied to fight him by raising the sword with two hands over his head, his body turned slightly. Since it was the stance a child learned on his first day at Edgeland Fortress, Amyr knew that Taeron was mocking him. "I have come to return the sword to you, my lord prince, but not as you would wish."

And with those words, he lunged to attack and Amyr barely had time to raise his own sword to parry. He was no fool, and he had trained with Taeron enough to know that he used only a fraction of his strength in the attack. Even so, Amyr was startled by the force of the blows that met his blade. For several moments their blades clashed again and again, almost as if they were in the practice yard under the watchful eyes of their trainers. Where Taeron had excelled, Amyr had been berated for his laziness, his sloppy execution, his lack of drive.

Amyr would not, could not let this fight continue to the usual conclusion that left the imperial trainers shaking their heads in disgust over his failure. He had Taeron to blame for what had happened to him. Taeron had all but thrust Quynn into the garden so that she could see him with another woman. Taeron had undermined his authority with the troops his father had put under his command. Taeron had no right to be alive after what had happened on Teralon! He had no right to wield his sword!

His fury drove him and for several moments he was able to beat back his former guard and he was filled with elation to know that he was stronger, that his years fighting in this pit had made him the better fighter. But that elation was short-lived because Taeron suddenly feinted and with the speed of wind, he slipped under Amyr's guard to score his flesh with the tip of the imperial sword. Amyr had no time to worry about the wound because suddenly Taeron was moving again, nicking Amyr with the sword repeatedly as he danced around him with the practiced skill of a master swordsman. When Amyr swiped out his sword, Taeron dodged it, and when he thrust forward, he easily avoided the tip of his sword by flipping backwards. The crowd soon turned on Amyr, cheering his opponent's acrobatics and jeering Amyr's clumsy attempts to protect himself. Many would lose large sums on his failure today, so they would only be mollified to see him die a horrific death.

There was no doubt that Taeron toyed with Amyr, but he did not finish the fight even as Amyr staggered, then fell to his knees. He was out of breath, felt weak with the loss of blood from dozens of wounds. Panting as he fought to breathe, he felt light-headed as his own blood soaked the sand of the arena. He tried to rise one last time, but he had only enough strength to look up at Taeron who stood above him, the blade of the sword he had once carried with great pride now coated with his own blood.

"You will not kill me." he predicted, his voice hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Taeron stared down at him, his face impassive, his eyes cold as he rested the tip of his sword against his chest. "I have killed thousands in your name with this very blade. You betrayed our bond, my prince, and there is only one way for me to regain the honor you stole from me."

The blade drove down and Amyr's jaw dropped as it slid into his body, between his ribs and through his heart up to the hilt. Then Taeron grasped a handful of his hair and jerked his head up so that he could meet his dying gaze.

"My honor is restored."

His body fell forward, and the last thing he felt was his face slamming into the filthy ground of the arena. Amyr wasn't sure what death was supposed to be like, but he was not expecting his consciousness to remain. The world became skewed, and without a conscious effort, he was moving, and turning away from the body lying lifeless in the muck. And then he was high in the air where he could see the people in the arena on their feet and he could hear them shouting praise for the victor. Amyr then saw Quynn standing with the other woman, the sorceress he had seen the first day. The sorceress had her hands raised, and she seemed to be concentrating as she chanted. Was she giving thanks to the gods for Taeron's victory? Taeron did not need the help of the gods. If he had any doubt in the past, Amyr did not any more after facing Taeron in a real duel. Taeron was a god.

Ryanwin was approaching. Amyr watched her step over his lifeless body. "You have done well, Taeron of Calabria. I would offer you riches beyond your imagining to remain as my new champion." The lust in her eyes sickened Amyr, but he could not look away from her.

"I have done what I came to do. Now I must return my prince's body to his father and mother, to Calabria." Taeron reached down to seize Amyr's body, but Ryanwin put herself between him and the corpse.

"If you want his body, you will have to agree to become my champion."

Amyr wished he could see Taeron's face, but he could not turn in that direction. Ryanwin would burn his body just as she had threatened if he did not agree, and Amyr wished he could laugh at the predicament Quynn had gotten her brother into. Taeron deserved to be used like an animal, forced to serve that grotesque creature.

"There is one other way for me to claim my prince's body," said Taeron, his voice deadly calm. How did that bastard manage to sound righteous when he was at his most arrogant?

"You think to best me?!" Ryanwin's form suddenly changed, from the seductive woman to the vile beast she hid from everyone. As she towered over Taeron, her fangs jutted out and caustic bile oozed down over them as she roared, the sound stopping many whose hearts froze in terror. The people in the crowd screamed and trampled each other to escape the shape-shifting banshee.

Taeron seemed unfazed by the monster towering over him. "You may let me take my prince's body, or I will dismember yours," he told her calmly.

She roared and swiped out at him, her fingernails transformed into razor sharp claws that could slice a man's torso in half. Amyr felt disoriented as if he were being swung in a circle, again and again, slamming up against the creature. He realized in horrified amazement that he was trapped in the blade of the sword. If he were alive, he would laugh, but since Taeron and the now bleeding creature were fighting for possession of his corpse, he could not utter a sound.

Ryanwin was no match for a god. The first limb to be severed was a hand, followed by an arm, and then a leg lopped off at the knee which then rendered her incapable of doing anything but falling victim to his promise. How he managed to keep the pieces he hacked off contained in the pile a safe distance from his corpse, Amyr did not know. He did not see the spell that had begun the inferno that burned the bloody mass to cinders, but he guessed the sorceress had done it. Soon he saw only darkness and he was afraid that death had become final and he had left this world, but he heard a voice that he recognized as that of the hunter Mordrad and he realized that Taeron must have sheathed the sword.

"Take him to the ship. Carrinda, go with him. Quynn, you may have to call your friend to persuade the guards to let us leave."

There was no more talking then as Taeron hurried away, probably carrying his body. Was he really going to return his body to his parents? Amyr wondered if they would even grieve, or if they had believed him dead on Teralon. Perhaps his father had been relieved to be rid of the son who was whispered about, the one whose sire may have been Prince Dillan. Now he would have proof that the useless bastard was dead. They could burn his body, reminisce about his life, and then they could forget about him as they went on with their lives.

"That was some fight, brother!"

If Amyr could groan, he would as he recognized the voice of Stryfe Maxwell, his father's scribe.

"You will record that Prince Amyr acquitted himself well in battle."

Stryfe scoffed as much as Amyr would have if he could utter a sound. What made him think he could pose a challenge to Taeron? Taeron had made a fool of him by proving him incompetent, even after all that he had gone through fighting in the arena. By the gods, he hated Taeron! How could the gods force him to stay at his side trapped in this sword?

"I suppose he acquitted himself better than any man has in the last few years," continued the scribe. "He certainly lasted longer than the Varoonyan prince."

Prince Rangyar had been reputed to be a very skilled fighter, so Amyr felt mollified in his defeat and death. He would not go so far as to think he had made Taeron work up a sweat. Even as ill-trained as Amyr was, he knew that Taeron had used only rudimentary moves in defeating him as if to prove his lack of skill.

"Where is the sword?" he heard the sorceress demand.

Suddenly he was blinded by light and when he could see again, he realized the sword was being held over his own body now lying on a narrow slab.

"When I begin the spell, return the sword, and when you withdraw it, he will be restored."

Amyr wondered if she used a magic akin to the spell his grandfather had used on his father before sending him into space without his memories. He had torn part of his father's soul away and bound it to his and the emperor's sword. Amyr had heard his father remark that he felt as if he were wrapped in a fog that did not dissipate until he was reunited with the woman he loved.

Before he could consider his strange existence he suddenly regained feeling. Amyr felt ice cold, colder than he had ever felt in his life and he knew his consciousness had been returned to his body. Taeron had shoved the sword back into his heart, but Amyr couldn't breathe and he was about to panic in the lifeless corpse, but suddenly he felt his heart thump in his chest. For several moments he lay immobile as his heart pumped, and when his open eyes focused the first thing he saw was Taeron standing over him with the blood coated sword in his hand. The sorceress muttered a spell and his lungs suddenly expanded and although he felt pain in his chest, it, too, faded. This sorceress was very powerful if she could bring one back from the dead.

"Heal his wounds, please," Taeron requested before turning away. "I should help my sister."

"No need," Amyr heard Stryfe say. "That dragon made short work of the creature's guards and the arena. They are returning."

Amyr still could not move although his breathing had become even and relaxed, and before he had a chance to feel the pain from the many wounds Taeron had inflicted upon him, the sorceress spoke another spell that enveloped him in numbing warmth.

"Is he alive?" he recognized Quynn's voice. Amy did not want to feel relief that she had returned unharmed. He should be planning how he would carry out his revenge for what she had done to him, but he was wishing she would touch him as she did that night when she had come to him in his squalid pen and given him comfort when he was sure he was going to die. Gods curse the female for having such power over him!

"Get this ship off the planet," ordered Mordrad and Amyr was glad for the distraction that took Quynn away from him as she took a seat to strap in for the lift off.

Taeron came to Amyr who could not even sneer at his imperial guard. He refused to feel grateful that Taeron strapped him down so that he would not be injured when the ship took off. He wished him to the furthest reaches of the netherworld, and knowing that would not happen any time soon, he settled for hoping Taeron vomited on himself and lost consciousness. It would not be the first time it happened to the bastard. If he had, Amyr did not know because Taeron left him shortly before the ship lifted off the ground and shot into the air. For several moments he was disoriented and he feared that he would be the one shaming himself as the ship shot through the planet's atmosphere and into space, but he quickly regained his equilibrium.

Several moments after the ship slowed and leveled off indicating that they were in space, Quynn's face appeared above him. "I am sorry we had to do that," she said softly, and he could feel her hand on his face. Amyr had never felt such pleasure from a female's touch! "But you are safe now, and I am hoping that soon you will be able to return to Calabria."

"He should rest." The other woman appeared, and her calming words sent him into peaceful slumber before he could attempt to protest.

Amyr did not know how long he remained in dreamless sleep, but when he finally awoke, his eyes snapped open to find himself staring up at the wooden rafters of a ceiling. He became aware that he was lying on a bed, the comfort disorienting him until he raised his head to see Taeron sitting on a rug nearby, his legs crossed, his eyes closed although his hand was on the hilt of a sword lying across his lap. Had his capture and enslavement been a nightmare? Were they at the imperial palace in the sacred hills?

Taeron would laugh when he told him about his nightmare. "How will you protect me when you are sleeping so soundly?" he teased his imperial guard.

But Taeron did not grumble as he oft did when Amyr accused him of sleeping. He raised his head and Amyr was jerked back to reality by the chill in his deep violet gaze.

His guard's contempt fueled his own anger, and as Taeron rose to his feet, Amyr realized that he was holding the sword of the crown prince. Amyr pushed himself up and swung his feet over the side of the bed so that he could rise. He felt no pain from his death. In fact, he felt better than he had in a long time. He had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious, but someone had cleaned him and shaved the ragged facial hair that he had not scraped away in many days. He was dressed in clean, soft clothing, the fine fabric and stitching evidence of Lady Larya's work. By the gods, he did not want to be beholden to Taeron more than he already was!

"After what you have done, you think I would keep you as my imperial guard?" He would not thank the bastard for anything.

Taeron snorted derisively. "I am the imperial governor of Varoonya."

The governor of Varoonya! "So you have managed to turn my death to your advantage?"

"I managed to turn your _treachery_ into my advantage."

Amyr could not argue that he had not meant Taeron harm. Because of what Taeron had done in exposing him to Quynn, he had lost everything and Amyr had wanted to strike back by dishonoring him. He should not be surprised that he had failed. When was the last time Taeron had been less than perfect?

"Has Staefyn been crowned?" Amyr realized that he had nothing to gain by speaking of what had happened on Teralon. Asking about his family seemed a safer subject. "Are you now his imperial guard?"

"I am not."

The acid tone of Taeron's voice surprised Amyr who had never seen any enmity between his brother and his imperial guard. In fact, Staefyn and Taeron had been inseparable as children until Taeron became obsessed with training to earn the right to protect the crown prince. After a trip to the sacred hills, shortly before Taeron had undergone the trial, he and Staefyn had drifted apart, so Amyr assumed they had a falling out. Amyr had never questioned Taeron about it because he did not give a gods damn about Staefyn and was glad to have Taeron at his beck and call without having to suffer his brother's irritating presence.

In his absence, Staefyn and Taeron must have had another disagreement. "What has my brother done to earn your disfavor?"

"Betrayed me," Taeron said solemnly.

Amyr would have laughed if he did not sense Taeron's anger. Staefyn was the last man he would suspect of dishonesty. "I shall make it a point to warn him how you repay treachery."

Before they could discuss it further, the door opened and Amyr was annoyed by the intrusion until he saw that it was Taeron's brother and then he cringed. The scribe's memory was phenomenal, so everything he saw and heard would be reported with brutal, honest detail to the emperor of Calabria. Stryfe was dressed in a fine garment that seemed a bit loose, so Amyr guessed it was Taeron's clothing, and if he were to guess, he would say that Taeron was wearing the scribe's clothing because it fit him poorly as well. What were they up to? Amyr might not want his actions reported, but at least the scribe could tell him all that he had missed during the years of his captivity.

"Hey, brother, those Teralonian women are wondering why you have been holed up in here with the crown prince of Calabria. Sharisse wanted to know why I wasn't more interested in the resurfacing of my lord prince." Stryfe glanced at Amyr. "I see that you are finally awake. Maybe my brother can get some sleep now."

"What did you tell her...them," amended Taeron and Amyr noted that his guard was blushing. Taeron blushing?

"Who are these women?" Amyr demanded with annoyance. He disliked feeling so ignorant, especially when it seemed these women had the power to unsettle Taeron.

"One is Taeron's wife," said Stryfe before Taeron could find his voice.

"Wife?" Taeron married? The idea was laughable and yet there was no reason why he would not be when the emperor had brought up the possibility before they left for Teralon. "Do you have children as well? Much has happened in my absence." He enjoyed the obvious discomfiture that his question caused Taeron.

Stryfe snickered. "No children yet."

"No wife either," Taeron pointed out. "I have not bonded to the female."

Amyr did not need to ask the scribe for details because Stryfe liked to gossip. "Your father arranged for his marriage to Princess Dijana of Teralon," Stryfe told Amyr.

Married to the heiress of Teralon? Amyr burned with fury that the imperial guard that had failed him was honored while he had suffered all those years! Why would his father reward Taeron in such a manner?

"The emperor has ordered him to begin his house before returning to Varoonya," concluded Stryfe with a delighted chuckle.

"Was it necessary to add that detail?" asked Taeron with annoyance.

"Is she ugly to behold?" asked Amyr. An ugly princess is exactly what Amyr would wish for him. She was surely a beak-faced bird woman with a shrewish disposition who would make Taeron's life a living hell. That was exactly what he deserved.

"No, she is quite beautiful," Stryfe told him, disappointing Amyr.

"Then why …?" Amyr's thoughts strayed to the woman to whom he had made his own vow, but he quickly shut them out before he began to feel the gnawing need for her. It would begin soon enough without thinking about her.

Taeron was obviously discomforted by the discussion. "This is none of your business."

Stryfe didn't seem to agree. "He has his eye on the lovely Sharisse, her sister." Indeed, Stryfe could not help but reveal the most private details. Wasn't that why his father had given him his post as scribe?

Taeron's marital woes amused Amyr and he hoped he could use this new information against him. Stryfe's next words made him almost giddy with anticipation for the trouble he could cause Taeron.

"They think that Taeron is me and that I am him."

"You are lying to them?" Amyr was incredulous. Taeron did not lie! But he could see by the mutinous look on Taeron's face that it was true. That he could get away with it amazed Amyr. Throughout their childhood, Taeron was the first to tell the truth or reveal any secret, so Amyr had quickly learned not to include him in any scheme or tell him anything he did not want blurted to his parents.

Now he raised a brow as he looked at Taeron. "They think you are a scribe?" Ridiculous! "Can you even read and write?"

"As well as you!" snapped Taeron.

That wasn't saying much. Before he had borrowed the book to read about the drug he planned to use on Taeron, Amyr hadn't read a book since he was barely higher than his mother's hip and he had forgotten nearly all the symbols. He never had a reason to read or write. That was what a scribe was for! The Teralonian females must surely be ignorant fools otherwise they would recognize which male of house Maxwell was a warrior and which spent his days hunched over scrolls reeking of ink.

"She hasn't seen you with a sword in your hand," remarked Amyr with a pointed glance at the sword Taeron held.

Taeron glanced at the sword as well, then sighing, he came to Amyr who actually flinched as he raised it. He would never forget how it felt to die on the point of that sword. But Taeron offered the hilt to Amyr. "I think your mother knew you were alive. When I returned the sword to Calabria and she held it in her hands, I think she felt something."

Amyr stared at the sword, remembering the ceremony in which he had received the sword from her hand. His mother did not often use her Guerani powers, but she must have bound his life force to the sword, so she had sensed that he was not dead through her touch. Now he took the sword Taeron offered to him, and he felt stronger holding it, more powerful, powerful enough to defeat anyone. Even Taeron.

Before Taeron could react, Amyr thrust the point of the sword beneath Taeron's chin. He hoped he had surprised him, but Taeron showed no concern from the threat. "I could kill you now for what you did to me in the arena."

"Saving your life?" Taeron's dark brows arched. "Did you want to remain there, a slave to that creature?"

"What will I return to? A contested crown? Parents I have failed? My only friend lost to me? A wife who will not have me but makes it impossible for me to have another?" His life was miserable and he had this man to blame. "I hate you Taeron. Your actions set into motion everything that has happened to me since that night when you did not do your duty to me. You chose your sister over me!"

He let the rage control him. Did he really think he could kill him? All he had to do was angle the tip and thrust the blade up and into his skull from below. He had a vague memory of being instructed in the move. He could do it now. He would do it.

He wasn't even aware that he tried before the sword suddenly dropped from a hand unable to hold it and Amyr felt sick to his stomach at the sight of blood pouring from under Taeron's chin where he had managed to cut him before his guard had seized his wrist in a grip so tight that he had crushed bones. What made him think he could do such a thing? If the ancestors had not abandoned him already, they surely would now for what he had tried to do!

The tears that made Taeron's face shimmer in his vision were more for the betrayal of his Guerani heritage than for the excruciating pain from Taeron's punishing grasp.

"If I can trust you not to try something like that again, Stryfe will fetch the healer," Taeron said his voice calm despite the blood pouring down his neck. "Otherwise, you can heal on your own."

"What do you want from me?" muttered Amyr as he blinked at the tears in his eyes. If his powers were not so weak, if the ancestors had not already judged him unworthy after all the death he had caused, he could have read Taeron's intentions. Amyr had lost what little Guerani power he had developed before he was captured by the Varoonyans.

"I want your word of honor, such as it is, that I do not have to fear your blade in my back." He bent until they were nose to nose. "I had to protect my sister. You charmed her when you realized that your father was disgusted with your selfishness, but I knew you only wanted to use her. I knew how much she loved you and that you would only hurt her. You fault me for wanting to protect her? I should have betrayed you much sooner so that she never would have agreed to become your mate, so that she could see you for the narcissistic scoundrel that you really are. You hurt everyone who ever cared about you!"

Amyr grit his teeth, hating the words Taeron spoke to confront him with his own ugliness, hating even more the hurt that flowed from Taeron to him, knowing that he would not feel it if it were not so deep.

"I will give you no word," he spat at him, lashing out in an effort to ease his own self-loathing.

"As I suspected all along. You have no word of honor to give." Before releasing him, he gave Amyr's wrist a twist that made the bones crack and Amyr's vision swim in pain before he lost consciousness.


	16. Chapter 16 Recriminations

**Chapter 16**

"I wish I could have seen my uncle fight." Yori sat on a stool, his legs swinging as he watched Quynn and Carrinda crushing dried leaves to use in their potions. Whenever they prepared these medicines, Quynn thought of her mother and how she had gone from a state of the art medical facility to a planet where she used the local flora in her healing.

At least now Quynn did not have to worry about her mother and father because Stryfe assured her that they were well although they were harried by her younger siblings. She was ambivalent about ever seeing them again, especially as she remembered Taeron's reaction to Yori. And since Taeron looked so much like her father, she could easily imagine her brother's reaction tenfold. Her father would never believe that she had not been with Amyr, and he might even blame Taeron for shirking his duty to protect the honor of his house. Neither of them were to blame, as if she would ever consider Yori as something that should have blame attached.

"Uncle Stryfe told me that Lord Taeron moved like the swiftest wind."

A snort drew Quynn's attention to the other two women in the cottage. Carrinda had invited them to spend the afternoon helping with the herbs, and while Princess Dijana quietly sorted the leaves, her sister paced like a caged beast.

"He hides his skill well,"muttered Sharisse under her breath.

Quynn shared a smile with Carrinda who then looked at Yori. "Not only did he defeat the prince, but he destroyed a Yulovian banshee with a flick of his wrist."

"A Yulovian banshee!" Yori's mouth dropped open and Quynn knew he remembered when Mordrad had been paid well to hunt down such a beast on another planet. Their fight with the creature had not been as efficient as Taeron's had been. Two of their men had been gutted by the banshee and several others wounded before Jeshed had swooped in to make the kill by grasping it with his claw and crushing it before biting off its head which he promptly spit out, obviously not pleased by the taste. Based on the amount of time it had taken her dragon to answer the summons, he did not want to face the beast either.

"You should have allowed us to accompany you," said Sharisse. "I would have enjoyed seeing the famed hero of Varoonya do something other than drool over my sister."

"Well, he is my betrothed husband," said Princess Dijana with an indulgent smile at the other woman who frowned at her.

The door opened and Quynn turned to see Taeron step in. At first he did not see the Teralonian women and Quynn feared he would give himself away. But then she was horrified to see blood staining his tunic down the front that looked as though it came from a wound beneath his chin.

"Why are you bleeding, uncle?" blurted Yori and Quynn was glad he remembered not to call him by name.

"What happened to you?" Before Quynn could react, Sharisse crossed the small cottage to reach Taeron in only a few strides.

When he had entered, Taeron had been frowning, but when he saw Sharisse advancing on him, his face showed more panic than when he had faced a giant banshee with fangs dripping acid. He stumbled back, falling over a footstool and coming up against the wall, and he made a desperate glance towards the door as if assessing his chances to escape her, but the moment had cost him.

Sharisse swooped forward and seized his chin to jerk his head up.

For a moment she just stared at his blood with wide eyes and Quynn noticed that the princess had stopped sorting leaves to watch her sister with anticipation. Quynn wondered what the princess expected to happen.

When Sharisse swallowed nervously, Quynn wondered if the sight of blood disturbed her as it did her brother, Stryfe. His affliction made getting through the mandatory military training at the academy nearly impossible, and as soon as he was able, he chose a course of study that kept him away from any possibility of seeing blood, either his or another's.

Sharisse spoke. "You have been stabbed. How did this happen?" Without waiting for an another - Quynn doubted had the ability to speak at the moment - Sharisse seized a nearby cloth and as she swiped at the wound, Taeron's eyes were round and his handsome face had gone from white to red. "Did your pen slip?"

"Sister!" exclaimed the princess, throwing down the leaves in her hand. "Let Lord Stryfe breathe. He has come seeking the help of the healer and you are hurting him with your clumsiness."

Sharisse stopped wiping his chin, and she stared at the blood flowing from his cut for a moment longer before she suddenly dropped the bloodied cloth and moved quickly away with her hand pressed to her mouth. When she tripped over the same footstool that had caused problems for Taeron, Quynn had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, but Yori let a giggle escape.

Without looking at anyone, Sharisse stumbled towards the door and after she had gone, the princess gave them an apologetic smile and quickly followed her.

Quynn exchanged a perplexed glance with Carrinda and she noticed that Yori was watching the door with a frown. He did not give her a chance to suggest that he find Andwar to go fishing because he hopped down from the stool and hurried out. At times like this, Quynn suspected that Yori could read her mind.

Carrinda went to Taeron to inspect the wound, raising his chin and looking up at the cut. "Calm your breathing, my lord," she teased. "The bleeding has slowed so you are in no danger from either the wound or the female."

"What happened?" asked Quynn. She left her work to fill a basin with water from a pitcher and went to them and waited as Carrinda intoned a healing spell that knit his flesh. Although the healing magic probably stung, Taeron did not even flinch and when Carrinda was satisfied with her work, she went back to the table and started crushing herbs again.

Quynn retrieved the cloth Sharisse had abandoned, and after rinsing it in the water, she started to clean his neck. He did not speak when she ordered him to remove his tunic so that she could wash out the blood in the basin, so she worked silently, waiting for him to explain what had happened although she guessed Amyr was responsible for the injury.

Taeron remained stubbornly silent for several moments until he finally said, "My lord prince has need of the healer."

Quynn frowned, annoyed that he had waited so long to tell them. "What did you do to him?"

"He attempted to kill me," Taeron told her with a snort of derision. "I allowed him to believe he could have been successful."

"The cut was deep," Carrinda admonished him. "Perhaps you should have stopped him a moment sooner."

"I was in no danger." Taeron told her dismissively. "I knew what he was going to do. He is such an ill-trained buffoon that he all but shouted his intention to me. I know him better than any opponent, and he has not changed except that he has forgotten anything he may have once learned."

"Is he dead?" asked Quynn, fearing his answer.

"I have broken the bones in his wrist," Taeron announced. "I left him mewling on the floor of his chamber like a baby with a soiled wrap." Taeron snorted again. "He probably did soil himself."

Shaking her head, Carrinda crossed the cottage, took a woven basket in which she kept some healing supplies and then walked out mumbling something uncomplimentary about males that was no different in any species.

After several moments of tense silence between them, Taeron said, "I did not instigate his violence. I returned his sword."

She sighed and met his gaze. "How did you think he would react?" Quynn did not need to remind Taeron that he could have prevented her from finding Amyr in the garden. She was grateful that he had kept her from destroying her life with the arrogant, selfish bastard, but Amyr probably blamed Taeron. He certainly would not have considered his own behavior at fault.

"He is fortunate that I did not draw my own sword," grumbled her brother.

"You would not have attacked him with your sword," she predicted as she ran the wet cloth over his flesh to remove the blood.

Her brother was a finely built man. She had thought so when she first met him several years ago. Since she did not realize that he was her brother, she had intended to attract him. So when Shamara had inadvertently revealed their relationship through her Guerani touch, Quynn had abruptly abandoned her plans. Still, she wasn't blind to his male attraction, so she wasn't surprised that he affected the Teralonian woman as he did. Sharisse was attracted to him despite her repugnance at believing that he was a scribe. Quynn smiled as she finished moving the cloth over the hard muscles of his chest. A scribe?

"I am bonded with my oath to protect him until he releases me from his service," Taeron remarked and then added, "No matter how much I would wish otherwise."

"He might attempt again to kill you while you sleep," she said with a worried frown. That Amyr had tried to harm Taeron at all surprised her after Taeron had defeated him so easily in the arena.

Taeron laughed now with genuine humor. "Sister, do you think I could sleep soundly with him in the room? Besides, the selfish bastard would have to lose sleep of his own trying to catch me resting, and that he would never do. He snores like a wasteland boar rooting about in the shrubs, so I would know if he were not sleeping. He would be a fool to try again. Even Amyr is capable of learning the painful lesson I taught him today."

Not knowing how to feel about the incident, she moved away. "If you are hungry, I have stew."

"I am hungry. I have stayed by my lord prince's side these last few days, caring for all his needs, and have not eaten much." He took the bowl and spoon and she did not bother offering him bread because Calabrians did not eat cereals. Before he began eating, he moved the contents of the bowl around with his spoon. Although he did not say anything, she knew he was looking for his favorite ingredient which could usually be found under logs, burrowing in the ground or creeping along on leaves, and for a moment she wondered if he would even eat because it looked as though he was swallowing his distaste when he found a lump of meat. Then shrugging, he dipped in his spoon and after tasting it, must have decided to tolerate it.

She went back to the leaves and resumed crushing them in the stone bowl. He ate silently for several moments, and when he finished the bowl, she refilled it for him, guessing that he had the same appetite as her father and brother even though nothing was slithering through the broth. He proved her correct as he ate the second bowl with the same gusto as he had the first.

"Where is our brother?" she asked him when she thought of Stryfe.

Taeron shrugged. "Probably pestering the prince for details of the years he spent in captivity. If not, he will be distracting the princess."

"That does not seem to bother you. She is your wife."

"In name," he said resentfully. "She is not my wife in fact, not until I have bonded with her."

"Taeron, you will not dishonor the vow you made to the emperor." Quynn would not think of how that would affect his father after what she had done. The emperor would tolerate only so much inconstancy from his imperial guard's house before he began to question his loyalty.

"And I doubt Teralon would risk the emperor's wrath by rejecting me." He sighed and set aside the now empty bowl. She wondered if she should fill it again. There was barely enough stew left to feed Yori and she hoped that Stryfe did not come looking for food.

They both fell silent again, Taeron probably trying to think of a way out of his dilemma as Quynn wondered how she could help him, but the silence was interrupted by Carrinda's returned. She tossed down her basket and made a sound of exasperation. Quynn did not need to guess why and she could see that Taeron was not surprised.

"The crown prince of Calabria is a crown pain in the backside," she announced. "He does not know how to show gratitude. He behaved as if he were doing me a favor by allowing me to heal him. I had half a mind to freeze the parts of him that make him a male."

Taeron seemed startled by her threat. Did he press his own legs together protectively?

"Then he has not changed much," commented Quynn.

"And he demanded that I send his wife to him, that he has a great need for her." Carrinda gave Quynn a pointed look that told her exactly how he needed her.

Quynn felt her cheeks heat in anger for him calling her his wife. "I am not his wife and I shall disabuse him of any notion that I will soothe any other aches that he has."

Snatching up his damp tunic and dragging it over his head, Taeron followed her from the cottage. "I will remind my lord prince that you are not his wife until the ceremony on Calabria that makes you so."

She had some difficulty keeping up with his long strides because he seemed even angrier than she.

"My mother explained the bonding ceremony, but I don't think she understood it well."

"Calabrian men must bond with their mate," said Taeron. "My mother tried to bond with our father by slipping her blood into his wine, food, anything she could think of, but humans do not bond like Calabrians. If they did, he would have been tied to her irrevocably even without the bond of his heart."

"I don't understand," said Quynn with a frown. She remembered her mother explaining that the water from the sacred hills infected the males.

"Calabrian males who bond with a female take their blood in the bonding ceremony and from that moment on can only mate with that female. Imperials perform a ceremony with a cup filled with water, but the tribesmen in the hills and on the moons bond in the old way."

"The old way?" Quynn was getting a very bad feeling.

"Taking the female's blood directly." Now Taeron was blushing faintly. "During the mating ritual, I am told that a male bites the female when they are ..."

"I get the picture." Quynn did and she was shocked to realize that Calabrians were even more primitive than she had thought. Amyr was not like that! He was the crown prince, so he would not take her blood like the tribesmen that her father governed.

And then she remembered the day their parents had agreed to their match, when he met her in the hall and seduced her with a thorny flower. She had pricked her finger and he had ...

She shook her head. Taeron had to be wrong! Amyr had been trysting with another female in the garden after he had sucked her finger in his mouth! "You must be mistaken, Taeron. What of Emperor Zeno? I have heard that he had many concubines!"

"Emperor Trey's mother refused to bond with him, telling him it was cruel and unnecessary, and that she trusted him. He would not bond with Lady Xuxa, the concubine that took her place."

"Surely Emperor Trey is not bonded like that! His mother was human!" That meant that Amyr was human as well, so he could not bond, just as her father could not with Taeron's mother.

"Emperor Trey bonded with his wife when they were children at the time that she gave her oath as his imperial guard. But since he was so young, the bond did not affect him until he reached manhood."

The love story of the Emperor and his wife was legendary, and now Quynn wondered how much was owed to the bond.

"My mother told me about the bonding ceremony," she told Taeron. "She thought the water from the hills was contaminated with some sort of parasite."

Taeron looked affronted. "The water from the sacred hills is pure. You would not have been harmed by it, nor would Amyr. You and he would have placed drops of your blood in the bonding cup and before drinking, both of you would have made another oath, this time to each other. The male forsakes all others – it is the last chance he has to refuse – and the female knows that she is responsible for his well-being."

"But … but..." she exclaimed, panic starting to rise inside as she remembered clearly when Amyr had sucked the blood from her finger after pricking it on the flower. "Does Amyr know about the bonding ceremony?"

"We never discussed it, but I am sure that he does. Every Calabrian male knows." Taeron narrowed his gaze on her. "Why do you ask?"

"I...I..." Quynn felt sick to her stomach. "I think I am his wife!"

Taeron's brows drew together. "How can that be? You left before the bonding ceremony."

Disgusted and ashamed, she told him what had happened before Taeron had stopped Amyr from having sex with her in the corridor. Taeron's face flamed with fury as he listened to her explanation and she thought he was angry at her until he shouted.

"That conniving Guerani bastard! He was taking no chances! He feared you would reject him and acted to force the issue."

Quynn wanted to deny it, that what had happened did not seem contrived, but she wondered if she really knew Amyr. He had shown her a side to him that had existed only for her. Could he truly have been scheming behind her back as Taeron believed?

Before they could discuss it any further, Taeron suddenly stiffened as he looked over her shoulder, and since she had come to recognize the wide-eyed stare in so short a time, she knew before turning to look in the same direction what she would see. The Teralonian female Sharisse stalked to them as if she were on a mission from which she could not be swayed, and seeing them in the path near the castle, she walked straight to them.

"I have been thinking of your dilemma," she said to Taeron, pushing past Quynn who watched her with bemusement. The woman had to tilt her head to look up at Taeron even though she was even considerably taller than Quynn. The two seemed well suited but she wasn't going to say that aloud with her own life in such a shambles and Taeron on the verge of breaking an oath. Taeron was as trapped as she was now.

"I have no dilemma that you can help me with," said Taeron gruffly.

Sharisse didn't seem to hear him and Quynn was glad from the distraction of her own problems to watch Taeron interact with the woman that was twisting him in knots. "Prince Amyr said that you are unaccustomed to handling weapons, that in your clumsiness, you hurt yourself on his sword."

Quynn gasped at Amyr's audacity that he would outright lie to the woman. But Taeron seemed to be more worried that Amyr had betrayed him. "You spoke to Prince Amyr?" he asked, his voice edged with panic. After what she had said, Amyr must not have revealed his identity, so she suspected that he planned to enjoy treating the fiercest warlord on Calabria as if he were a scribe.

"When I suggested that you should have some training in martial skills so that such an accident does not happen again, he agreed and recommended that I help you." She made an unfeminine sound of annoyance. "He thinks I am a weak woman, but I think I could probably best your spoiled prince in combat."

"I do not doubt it," remarked Taeron with a grim line to his lips. Despite her own troubles, Quynn almost laughed aloud.

"Come with me, then. The practice field is this way. I shall teach you what I can while we wait for the ship to be repaired. In truth, I have only been taught to protect myself, but I doubt those Calabrian ruffians have done even that for you. Perhaps by the time you return to Calabria, you will be able to hold your head high."

"I doubt it very much," he muttered with a frown at Quynn. When he hesitated to follow her, Sharisse seized his arm, but he dug in his heels.

"Go with her," Quynn said with a sigh. "I will speak to Amyr."

"I should be with you when you speak to the prince," he insisted, his eyes meeting Quynn's. She wanted to roll her eyes. Why did Calabrian males think that women were helpless? She hoped Sharisse twisted Taeron into a pretzel to teach him a lesson.

"This is something I must do on my own, brother."

Sharisse made a sound of disgust as she tugged on his arm. "Come with me, Lord Stryfe. Surely the prince and his mate have no need of a scribe during their private moments."

Having no argument to make to that remark, Taeron gave Quynn a warning look that said as eloquently as spoken words that he expected no such private moments, and then he turned reluctantly to follow the woman. His eyes were trained on her backside, so Quynn knew whatever Sharisse had planned for him was going to be difficult for him in more ways than one. Even during her own training Quynn had to put up with more than one male groping her, and once she had given Chaz Yuy a black eye when he started grabbing where he should not. Quynn would rather watch how Taeron handled being trained by the woman to whom he was attracted.

But she had to confront Amyr about what he had done. If what Taeron told her was true of Amyr, then he had no one but himself to blame for what had happened. Quynn had no way of knowing about the bond or that he had forced it before she had a chance to change her mind. The bastard knew of many reasons why she might, reasons that she had been blind to until now. She knew the truth, that he had wanted her only to gain approval. Even fast hands Chaz Yuy had the decency to confess to her that his mother's dream was for him to marry Quynn, the daughter of her dearest friend. So he proposed and they had laughed about it after she had refused him. Amyr had never given her a choice! His seduction had rolled over her like a speeding freight train and she had been as powerless to stop him as if she were tied to the tracks.

By the time she reached his room, she had stoked the flames of her fury by remembering everything he had done to insure that she would be thoroughly deceived. His sweet words, his practiced seduction, the kiss he had given her marking her as his mate, as his whore. Amyr had known exactly what he was doing! And she had been so naive that she thought he felt for her what she had for him. There was only one person Amyr could ever love. Himself!

The servants of the castle knew her well, and since they fled at the sight of her now, she knew that fire magic glowed in her eyes. Although it was difficult, she tamped it down so that she would not burn Amyr to a crisp. The dragon was stirring, so she warned it not to interfere and she felt it's growl of disapproval but she knew that Jeshed would do as she asked.

After being directed to the room where Amyr was staying, Quynn came to a stop when the door flung open before her. She suspected him of sensing her arrival with the bond he had with her if not his Guerani powers, but a couple of buxom females hurried from the room with sour looks on their pretty faces. They pushed past her rudely, complaining about the fickle prince. The fickle prince was pacing in his chamber, hands on either side of his head with his fingers laced behind. He was half-dressed and disheveled, so Quynn did not have to use her imagination to know what he had been doing with the women.

Although she had not made a sound, Amyr did sense her arrival, because his head suddenly jerked up and he swiveled to spear her with his intense amber gaze. The room suddenly seemed to be too hot and she instinctively took a step back. The bracelet around her wrist vibrated and when his gaze dropped to it, she knew by the frown creasing his brows that the gems embedding in the metal were glowing.

"Remove that thing when you remove your garment." He pulled off his own tunic and headed towards the enormous bed provided to the heir of the emperor of the binary system. "Close the door, although I don't give a gods damn who watches what we do."

"I care." Quynn kicked the door shut and the slam of the wood made Amyr turn to face her. The sun streaming in the window poured onto his flesh and she knew she would have difficulty resisting him. He was a handsome man, how could he not be? He reminded her of his uncle, Lord Apolo, with his startling dark beauty and aura of Guerani magic. She imagined she could see tendrils of it rising around him as he faced her although there was nothing there and she had only Taeron's suspicions as evidence of magic.

"You will not challenge me, female. I am your mate. You cannot deny me what is mine by right."

"Yours by right!?" The dragon was stirring, but she warned him again to leave them alone. The last thing she wanted was to incinerate Amyr before she got answers to her questions. After that was another matter entirely.

Amyr pointed a finger at her although he did not move any closer. "You have spellbound me to you!"

She gasped in outrage. "I have done nothing of the sort! You are the one who is to blame here!"

"I!?" He put a hand to his expansive, muscled chest. Quynn wished she didn't notice how finely formed he was, that the years of his enslavement swinging a sword had given him a warrior's body. She wondered if the bond he had with her was responsible for heat in the room, heat that flared unbearably when she saw the proof of her effect on him.

"How am I to blame?" he growled. "Do you think that I would willingly submit to such a need? I cannot touch another woman!"

His words affected her as if she had been doused with cold water. If she had not been outraged before, Quynn was now. She checked the urge to surround him with real flame to take his mind from the fire in his leggings, but her magic was not so precise and she would probably burn him to cinders and she doubted Carrinda could heal that. So she had no choice but to find the nearest object, one of his boots on the floor, and she launched it at his head.

"You made a vow to me! And you had no intention of honoring it!"

"I would have tried!" he shouted at her after leaning out of the path of the boot. "You gave me no choice!"

"I gave you no choice?" She threw the other boot at him, but he ducked that one as well. "You are the one that bonded to me! _You_ gave _me_ no choice."

He glared at her, his eyes like fire. "I have no idea what you are talking about. We did not share the bonding cup. You used your sorcery!"

"And you are a liar! Taeron told me all about the bonding ceremony, about the blood. My mother thought it was the water, but it is a _blood_ bond! You gave me that flower because it had thorns! You wanted me to prick my finger so that you could take my blood!"

"What are you talking about?" He seemed confused at first and Quynn was crushed that he did not even seem to remember a moment that had touched her so deeply. There were many times in the last few years that she thought of what might have happened if Taeron had not stopped them. Now she wanted to cry, but she refused to let him hurt her anymore.

"You ass!" She wished she could throw something else at him but she did not see anything within reach. "I know what you intended and why! You told me in the trance you dragged me into!"

"Trance?" He took a step back. "I cannot initiate a trance."

"Liar!" She could not believe he could speak nothing but lies. "Your magic is so strong that it reached the frontier!"

"My magic?" Amyr threw back his head in laughter. "My magic is pathetic! At first I could read feelings, but that was all I could do and even then it was unreliable. I tried so hard to develop the magic, but the power has eluded me!" He looked away now and she was surprised that he actually looked ashamed. "The ancestors have abandoned me."

"Did they have good reason?" she demanded, pushing back any sympathy she felt for him.

He did not look at her. "I tried to put Taeron in a trance. I even tried to drug him with your mother's herbs to make it easier, but he would not drink the wine I offered him."

She was appalled by his admission, but even more so that he could not tell the truth and feigned honesty better than an honest man. "You are lying again! Taeron _was_ put in a trance!"

"And that flower?" He raised his head to look at her. "I remember now. I gave it to you the day we spoke vows." He met her gaze. "I am not lying to you, Quynn. I knew what would happen after the bonding ceremony. My father warned me that day that if I had any doubt I should not go through with it. But I thought there was magic in the cup with the joining of the water and the blood. If that rose sealed our bond, it was not by my doing."

"You took my blood," she told him. Was Amyr really oblivious of something Taeron claimed every male knew of? "You must have known what would happen. You knew that I would be tied to you, that I would be forced to acknowledge you because of it."

Amyr shook his head, proving that he was as ignorant as her mother had been about the significance of the bonding ceremony. "I don't know what you are talking about. I was coming to meet you and as I was passing through the garden, I saw the rose and decided to give it to you." There was a faint blush on his cheeks.

"You are lying," she said with narrowed eyes.

He sighed with exasperation. "So be it! I will tell you the gods honest truth then! I was congratulating myself for persuading you to join with me and getting you to bring our parents to heel, and since I knew my moments of freedom would soon come to an end, I convinced one of your mother's lovely young serving women to meet me in the garden. I was flirting with her when Staefyn came upon us."

"Flirting?" Quynn was horrified and disgusted that while her mother was trying to talk her out of marrying him, he was humping on one of her servants like a dog that could not control his urges.

He shrugged. "Does it matter? I knew that after the ceremony on Calabria I would not stray from our vows. And we had not yet taken any," he reminded her with a smug lift to his chin. "I was free to sample whatever treat fell into my lap, and I intended to gorge myself with the usual sweets at your father's palace."

"You prick!"

` "Staefyn sent the girl running with a stern holier than thou rebuke. By the gods, he was worse than Taeron, threatening to go straight to our parents to expose me. He suggested that I make amends by taking you the rose."

"Even that wasn't your idea?" She felt sick to her stomach that he had cared so little for her feelings. "You completely played me for a fool!"

He waved his hand as if the past were unimportant, and then he took a step toward her. "I need you Quynn."

She may have been attracted to him when she entered the room, but now she was disgusted by the sight of him. "You need me? Did you try to take those women to your bed?" She flung her hand towards the door where the young women had exited.

"Does it matter?" he demanded harshly. "They made me physically sick." He motioned to the basin and she saw that he must have vomited in it. "That night I was burning for you already. I had to do something about the hunger I felt for you, so when the female offered, I thought …" He must have seen the furious look on her face because he shook his head. "I did not betray my vow with her."

"Because you were unable!" She crossed the room to him and the eagerness on his face made her want to laugh and cry. How could he think she would succumb to his pleas after what he had just admitted?

He reached for her, but she sidestepped him to seize the basin, and lifting it she flung it at him. He was so surprised that he was unable to avoid it, and the contents splattered on his chest as the earthenware basin fell to the floor and shattered at his feet.

"I am so gratified to hear that I do not make you sick to your stomach! As for those females - all of them - you spoke an oath to me and you have broken it in your heart if not with your body!"

"You spoke an oath to me and yet you bore another man's bastard!" he snarled at her.

The vehemence in his voice made her step back and the dragon inside her bracelet roared with outrage. "I … I have not …" She did not even know how to explain what happened to her. But she was not guilty of anything and refused to be made to feel so by this rutting Calabrian dog. "I have known no man. Taeron is convinced that you sired Yori in our trance."

"I cannot initiate a trance!" he roared furiously.

"How can I believe you when all that pours from your lips is lies! But I believe this. You _cannot_ be Yori's sire. He is a gentle boy, and I would never, ever allow you to have any hand in raising him, whether you are or not." With that, she spun on her heel and marched out, furious at him, furious at herself and fearing her Yori's future.


	17. Chapter 17 Training the scribe

**Chapter 17**

"Are you going to fight, uncle?"

Dijana glanced at the strange child swinging his legs as he sat on the fence that cordoned off the practice area where a few of the Calabrian men were sparring with sticks. There was something odd about the boy, and she had noticed in the days since coming to Norvana that the Calabrians rescued from slavery by Lord Mordrad seemed uncomfortable around him. Those Calabrians now stopped sparring when she approached with Stryfe, and they stepped away respectfully with a nod towards the man following her. She guessed it was because the scribe was the son of the emperor's governor. What other reason would they have to treat a scribe with such reverence?

Ignoring the other men, she seized the edge of the fence and climbed over. She did not have much to teach the scribe because Balak only relented to have her trained at all because the council of elders had ordered him to do so when she had requested it. The old warrior that had been assigned the task could not have made it more obvious that he was displeased to be burdened with her, but he had gruffly praised her efforts so she felt up to the task of training a scribe.

"We will begin without weapons," she told Stryfe. "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again."

The boy on the fence giggled and one of the Calabrian men guffawed as another hurried away. Stryfe's face had reddened with embarrassment as he stood on the other side of the fence, silent as usual.

Dijana put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "I can hardly teach you with you standing there and me here. You are not still worried about your sister, are you? She can handle Prince Amyr. I doubt there is anyone that cannot."

Her brief meeting with the former crown prince had not gone well. Sharisse had followed her the short distance to the castle, goading her about her reaction to Stryfe's blood, but Sharisse had managed to get herself under control before setting off to meet Prince Amyr to demand to know what he had done to the scribe. They had passed the healer on the road, but Dijana had not stopped to talk to her although Sharisse had exchanged a few words with her.

Lord Taeron had been with him when they arrived, and she had been able to hear him asking questions about his captivity before Dijana walked in unannounced despite Sharisse's warning to wait. Although surprised by their sudden arrival, the handsome son of the emperor listened to Lord Taeron's introductions and Dijana expected him to fawn over Sharisse who was at her most charming, flirting outrageously with him under Lord Taeron's watchful gaze. Dijana wondered if she thought Prince Amyr was a better catch, then dismissed her sister as a fool for thinking he might be interested in her when he was already attached to Lord Taeron's sister. Prince Amyr had been polite to Sharisse, but he quickly dismissed her to turn an assessing gaze on Dijana that made her feel uncomfortable. Had he discovered her identity?

He tried and failed to use flattery on her. Dijana was not blind to her lack of beauty and she was well used to uncomplimentary glances from men, so his gallantry rang false with her and she had to check the urge to kick him. She suffered it in silence before she demanded to know how the scribe had been hurt. He had been momentarily taken aback, but then he recovered to tell her that the fool had been bringing him his sword, tripped over his own feet and stabbed himself. She noticed Lord Taeron frowning during his explanation so she imagined that he was annoyed by his brother's clumsiness. When Dijana suggested bluntly that Lord Taeron might have helped his human brother by training him to be comfortable handling their long, deadly swords, Prince Amyr informed her that the scribe had no need since he was as well-protected as the crown prince. He told her Lord Taeron did not have time to be bothered by the note scribbling fool and she was surprised when he suggested that she spend her spare time instructing him so that Lord Taeron could have more time with her sister.

Dijana had no opportunity to retort that Lord Taeron spent enough time alone with her sister because a pair of females entered the room carrying pitchers of water with drying cloths over their arms claiming to be there to serve the prince. Dijana rolled her eyes at their obvious unstated intent and turned on her heel to leave, not caring how rude the prince thought her. He had been boorish to imply that she was a hindrance to Lord Taeron's courtship of her sister.

"This is unnecessary. I do not need, nor do I desire this training." Stryfe's announcement brought her attention back to him, still waiting on the other side of the fence.

Several more Calabrian men had hurried to the practice field and she saw that they were jostling to find the best place to watch. "Go ahead, scribe!" The encouragement sounded more like mockery to Dijana. "It will do you some good to learn some skills."

"Especially the skills Lady Sharisse can teach you!"

Dijana was annoyed by his implication, and by the reddening of Lord Stryfe's face, she could see that he was uncomfortable as well. She chose to ignore them, instead raising a brow in challenge.

"Do you fear a woman? In your case, I believe you should." The scribe looked like a coward keeping the fence between them.

Taking a hand to hand stance she had been taught, she beckoned him to join her.

The Calabrian men were talking among themselves, laughing as they discussed something she could not hear. Stryfe stared at them with annoyance, then reluctantly climbed over the fence, but he hooked his trailing ankle on the top rail and fell flat on his face at her feet. The Calabrians burst into laughter before another round of furious discussion burst out amongst them.

He refused the offer of his hand, so she jerked her thumb in the direction of the other men as he stood and brushed the dirt from his tunic. "What are they talking about?"

"Wagering how long I will last," he told her with a twist to his lips.

It was unfortunate that he drew her attention to his mouth because the sensual curve of his lips was distracting. She wondered how it would feel to have them pressed to her own. She had seen Princess Chaela press her lips to her husband's, a custom that she had brought to Teralon, and Dijana had thought it looked unpleasant. Indeed, her brother did not seem to enjoy the experience either so the Calabrian princess had long since ceased the familiarity with her husband. But now Dijana wondered how it would feel to be kissed. She shook her head with annoyance at her own thoughts. She did not want to imagine such intimacy with the scribe.

"Stand like so," she told him as she demonstrated the stance again.

"Like this?" he asked. The Calabrians were outright snickering which was annoying her greatly. She could not blame them because Stryfe seemed incapable of following instructions.

"You need to have a wider stance. You should be on your toes, ready to move quickly."

"My uncle Taeron moves like the wind," the boy sitting on the fence announced.

Rolling her eyes, she tried to imagine the buffoon courting her sister moving like anything other than a languid breeze, but she could not. Dijana went behind Stryfe and without warning, reached between his thighs and pulled his legs to a wider stance then pushed him forward, intending only to make him lean a bit. He lost his balance and flew forward, his face landing in the dirt.

"The scribe moves like a sand slug!" The Calabrians burst into raucous laughter.

The Calabrians apparently had no respect for the human son of the emperor's imperial guard, and she could hardly blame them. Calabrians were bloodthirsty warriors who valued strength over intelligence. She would make it a personal duty to train the scribe so that he could protect himself should he ever be in danger without his own personal guard. Dijana knew too well what could happen to one who was powerless. Watching him sit up spitting dirt from his mouth made her wonder if she was taking on too difficult a challenge.

Sighing, she reached down to seize his arm, but when she tried to jerk him to his feet, he resisted and she snapped forward to sprawl atop him. Her body reacted as it did that time on the ship when they had been thrown together, and she felt him tense beneath him. Her thighs were on either side of his hips and she was pressed so intimately against him that she felt a startling male reaction beneath her which sent a wave of scorching heat through her body.

Scrambling quickly from him, she jumped to her feet and smoothed her tunic as he stood, also jerking down his tunic which had torn at the seams of the sleeves and halfway down the sides.

She laughed nervously. "You are built like a warrior."

"It is from carrying around all those heavy scrolls and books!" The men hooted with laughter at the remark of one among them.

"Not to mention the barrels of ink," called out another.

Dijana frowned at them. "Would any of you care to come into this ring? I will teach you a proper respect for Lord Stryfe!" She took a battle stance and beckoned them forward. She would enjoy putting them on their backs. Like all men, they would underestimate her. At least she hoped so, although she realized belatedly that the hulking, famed imperial warriors might be beyond her training

"Absolutely not!" barked Stryfe, glowering at the men. "Keldar, do you not have anything better to do? And Danlaer, what are you doing here? Who is working on the ship?"

Now the men lowered their heads sheepishly and she wondered what had caused their meek behavior until she saw that her sister was approaching, hanging on the arm of Lord Taeron. Seeing him with his fair head bent towards her sister, listening with rapturous attention to whatever Sharisse was saying made Dijana's stomach churn. Would he be as attentive to her or would he always wish that she were her sister? He was better off with Sharisse because Dijana could not have the reaction to him that she had to his brother.

"We beg your forgiveness, Lord Taeron," spoke up one of the men.

Lord Taeron waved his hand dismissively, not bothering to take his eyes from Sharisse. "You can receive your forgiveness from the scribe since you have insulted my brother."

His brother faced the men. "Find something else to do!"

They scattered as if the wind had blown them away. They feared Lord Taeron so much that they were willing to listen to the scribe. Dijana narrowed her eyes as she studied the lanky warrior who had vanquished and subjugated the Varoonyans, but she saw no outward sign of his power. She could not even imagine him with a sword in his hand although his skill and speed were legendary.

"My lord," she said as she marched to the fence, leaving Stryfe behind, suddenly more interested now in the infamous Calabrian warlord. At a relaxed stance, he did not seem that he could be threatening. He was not as tall as the scribe, and while he exuded an air of self-confidence that the scribe lacked, Dijana could not imagine him raising a sword.

"Lord Taeron, how is it that you have not seen to the training of your brother? He is woefully ignorant and shockingly clumsy!"

Lord Taeron glanced past her to his half-brother who stood with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging. He looked utterly pathetic with his stained, ripped tunic, his face smudged with dirt from the practice yard. Dijana wondered how shocked he would be if she offered to bathe him like those females who had gone to do the same to the Calabrian prince.

"My brother is not as inept as he would have you believe," said Lord Taeron before she could delve into any further fantasies involving the scribe.

Stryfe shook his head and looked at him with a rueful smile. "She has the right of it brother. I am completely incompetent where weapons are concerned."

"You are too hard on yourself," insisted the warlord.

"No, if anything I am being generous. I have spent far too much time locked away with musty tomes and dusty scrolls." He sighed mournfully, shaking his head. "I remember the first time that we crossed swords, brother, on the Mars Colony. Do you remember?"

"Indeed, I do. You acquitted yourself well that day."

"Alas, since then, I have forgotten my skill with a weapon. I prefer reciting stories for the emperor's amusement." Stryfe shook his head. "And I know that you were holding back, my lord brother, because fighting me must have been like fighting an untrained child."

"You err, my lord brother! You gave a good accounting of yourself."

"Enough!" snapped Dijana, annoyed by their ridiculous banter. "You need not continue to point out your obvious shortcomings, Lord Stryfe."

"My brother is not nearly as incompetent as you think," continued Lord Taeron. "He was a champion swordsman with a rapier on Earth."

"Rapier? What is a rapier?" She turned to look at Stryfe.

"Compared to my brother's weapon, it is like a sharpened stick," he told her with a smug smile. "Unfortunately, my skill is wasted because the sight of blood makes me faint. That makes me completely useless in a battle, but the emperor has great need of my skill as a storyteller."

She frowned as she remembered him entering the cottage earlier, and while the memory had the power to unsettle her, Dijana was able to fight it. "You were not fainting when you came to find the healer. You were covered in your own blood."

He stared at her without responding. Dijana guessed that Stryfe was simply unable to take another life and that was how he had come to be a scribe. She once thought that she would be unable to kill, but there was a man that she would gladly carve into little pieces if only she could. And since she could not, Dijana would always be under his power.

"Perhaps, Lord Taeron, you should teach your brother how to handle an imperial blade so that he doesn't hurt himself again." She met the warlord's eyes. The most feared warrior in the Calabrian system stared at her like a dumb Teralonian bovine. The stupid creatures did nothing but chew grasses and moved only to get to another patch of grass. If they did not produce milk that made a delicious cheese, they would be utterly useless.

She held out her hand. "May I see your sword? If you are not inclined to teach him, perhaps one of the other men can." Dijana wanted to see Lord Taeron with a sword in his hand. Perhaps then she could believe that the legends were true.

But he did not make any move to present her with his sword. Instead he looked past her to his brother and she turned her head to catch him shaking his head, his brows drawn together in a frown.

"Are you that much of a coward?" she demanded with irritation as she took a step towards Stryfe.

"My brother is no coward!" snapped Lord Taeron, showing some sign of being the man spoken of as if he were a god.

"His imperial sword is not to be trifled with," Stryfe explained, taking a step towards her.

"It is a weapon," she said with a frown.

"A legendary weapon,"stated Lord Taeron with no little pride. "Given to me by the emperor himself and blessed by gracious Lady Arora after I completed the trial. I have wielded it in defense of the first princess and the crown prince. I used it to liberate Teralon from invaders and to free the enslaved peoples of Varoonya. I am not going to give it to you to use in your training exercise with a scribe."

After his eloquent tirade, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Sharisse to stare after him dumbfounded.

Dijana turned to look at Stryfe and found that he was smiling at his brother's departing back. "It is still just a weapon, fool."

"If you say so,"he remarked with a shrug.

Irritated, she took a deep breath, and then she approached the attractive scribe. "If you have already had some training as a warrior..."

"On Earth," he told her. "But we use different weapons." He ran a hand through his long, beautiful hair, then he put himself in the stance she had shown him earlier. "I am willing to learn whatever you wish to teach me."

Wondering what she would teach him, and now suddenly realizing that he meant to grapple with her, her pulse began to race as she imagined them rolling in the dirt, their bodies touching as they had only moments ago and it became difficult to draw breath. Training with her instructor was far different from facing a man, a young man, an attractive man who made her feel uncomfortable in ways that she did not think she ever would.

"Mama!"

Feeling faint with relief, Dijana spun to see Stryfe's sister approaching, her features rigid with anger and Dijana would have sworn that there was steam rising from her. There were tears rolling down her cheeks, so Dijana was not surprised that her brother moved past her, and leaping over the fence as if it were no obstacle, he soon caught up to her.

"You are not going to believe what that bastard said! You should have broken his neck instead of his wrist!"

Stryfe took her arm and hurried away with her, his dark head bent to speak to her, but when the boy hopped off the fence to follow behind, he took only a few steps before he stopped, and then he hurried away in the direction that the Calabrian men had gone.

Dijana went to her sister who was glaring at her. What did Stryfe's sister mean by his breaking the prince's wrist? How could he have done so?

Sharisse took her attention from her thoughts. "Did you have to chase Lord Taeron away?"

"You have spent enough time with him. He is to be _my_ husband."

"We have already discussed this, sister. You have no intention of joining with him, and Lord Taeron has not shown you any interest at all." Sharisse poked her chest with her finger. "I am Princess Dijana and you are naught but my useless sister. After everything you have done, you are lucky that you were not publicly shamed and punished."

Dijana grit her teeth and tried to push back the memory of her humiliation. Sharisse was right. Her father never intended for her to marry Lord Taeron, and he would be furious if she did. His wife was the true ruler of Teralon by blood, so Sharisse, despite the circumstances of her birth, was as much a princess as Dijana. Teralonian queens did not usually birth two females, and when they did, it caused nothing but trouble. Balak had tried to use Sharisse to supplant Dijana and failed, but he might try again, especially if Sharisse returned to Teralon wed to the Calabrian warlord. Did Dijana care? Only her stubborn pride in being Queen Neria's heir made her balk at giving in to Sharisse.

With no argument to make, she turned on her heel and walked away from her sister. Dijana had no identity beyond what she had been raised to be, and even that had been denied to her by Balak. Her father should have protected her, had been chosen from among all warriors by the queen to sire and protect her heir, and yet he reviled her. No man on Teralon would have her although they would not dare reveal why to an outsider. Did Balak truly intend for Sharisse to take her identity to fulfill the terms of the agreement with Calabria? Would Sharisse tell her husband what had happened to Dijana to make her unacceptable as a bride and what would the scribe think when he learned of her shame? She was horrified to think that he would write of it in his report to the emperor.

Hoping to keep such a thing from happening, she hurried in the direction that the scribe had gone with his sister. If she could have a chance to tell him before he learned of it from Sharisse, she might be able to persuade him to leave out the most unpleasant details. Perhaps then she could be forgiven for the foolishness of a female that had only known the attentions of one man, the one man she should have kept at bay because he had destroyed her life.

The scribe and his sister had met up with Lord Taeron and the trio moved off the path speaking in low voices. She managed to hear some unflattering remarks about Prince Amyr but not anything Dijana had not already heard in Teralon after the debacle of his attack on the Varoonyans. She knew she had no right to hear their private conversation, and yet Dijana could not resist following them and ducking behind a bush to listen to what they said.

"Do you think he is lying?" Lord Taeron asked his sister.

"He did not seem to be lying. He freely admitted to his disgusting behavior, even that he was seducing one of mother's servants." She fell silent for a moment then spoke to Lord Stryfe. "You must have been with him. Did Staefyn give him the rose?"

A rose? She remembered that it was a flower that was now grown on Calabria after being brought there by Lord Duo for his wife's garden. Princess Chaela had spoken of the flowers and how she would like to bring them to Teralon to put them in the queen's garden. They were discussing a flower?

"Did you forget that I tried to talk you out of marrying him? I couldn't be with him and you are the same time." Lord Stryfe sounded very annoyed and Dijana was surprised to hear him speak more than a dozen words.

"This is ridiculous!" snapped Lord Taeron. "There is absolutely no reason to believe that Staefyn is involved in some sort of perfidy."

"You are too trusting," said his brother.

Dijana agreed with Stryfe. She had met Prince Staefyn shortly before the invasion when he had come to Teralon with Warlord Kai. He had given some flowery speech to Balak about considering a Teralonian bride, but he did not give Dijana more than a disinterested glance, and when Sharisse tried to gain his attention with flattery, he had turned her away as well. He visted only briefly with his sister before he left on an imperial transport back to Calabria, leaving Kai on Teralon.

"I do not trust him," Stryfe stated. "He has spent too much time in the sacred hills."

"Because he is in love," said his brother. "You wouldn't know what that feels like."

"And you do?"

Dijana stifled her gasp of surprise. Lord Taeron was in love with her sister?

"Shut up! Both of you! Those Teralonian women have made you both idiots!"

"You are any better over Amyr?" demanded Lord Taeron.

"We are not discussing our foolish behavior,"snapped Stryfe. "Nor are we talking about Amyr. If we believe him, then he has not been responsible for what has happened. Who would benefit by removing Amyr?"

"You think Staefyn planned everything?" Quynn seemed aghast. "How could he know what I would do, what Taeron would do...?"

"If he has the power I believe him to have, he has manipulated everyone," Stryfe said quietly.

"You believe that Staefyn has Guerani powers?" asked Quynn incredulously.

"That is not possible!" exclaimed Lord Taeron. "How could he hide it?"

"It is the only explanation that makes sense, and if he does have the power to mask it from his mother, from his uncle, then he surely must have developed into a sorceress like his grandfather."

"What do you think he is planning?" asked Lord Taeron.

They fell silent and Dijana imagined that they had concluded what she had in listening to them. If the second prince removed the one standing between him and the emperor, what was to stop him from resurrecting the tradition of murdering his father to gain the empire the man had built since challenging his own father? And if he were adept at the sorcery rumored to be practiced on Calabria, he would fall under his own son's sword.

She backed quietly away, her heart beating rapidly. Dijana had read the accounts of the past, when the Calabrian emperor had not stabilized the binary region. Wars came on the heels of each other, bloodthirsty creatures of other planets invading, carrying off slaves to be sold on the frontier markets. When Varoonya invaded, it had come as a shock because the Calabrian emperor had put a stop to wars and slavery, beginning first on his planet and then spreading his laws throughout the binary system. Few opposed him and those that did were easily dealt with by the threat of facing the imperial army led by his warlords. Most planets were enticed with trade agreements and when planets were dependent on Calabria, he bloodlessly annexed them to his empire. Few complained when Emperor Trey's rule brought prosperity, peace and stability. Dijana did not want to imagine life without the security the Calabrian emperor gave, especially if a callous man like Prince Staefyn allied with men like warlord Kai.

"Lady Sharisse?"

She didn't realize that she was standing in the path motionless, her own fear paralyzing her. Raising her head, she saw Lord Taeron continuing on the path with his sister while Stryfe had come to stand before her.

"I do not bear a title,"she told him with a sigh. Dijana must become accustomed to her new name. "My mother should not have born me, but I have ceased to wonder what she had been thinking when she did. You may simply call me Sharisse, Lord Stryfe."

His face did not betray his thoughts. "A lord is not born to the title," he told her. "My father is a lord and my brother, titles earned through service to the emperor."

"A scribe cannot become a lord?"she asked with a half-smile.

"I do not care about the title." Now he chuckled. "Were I a lord, I might have to marry according to the emperor's decree."

"I did not realize that the emperor demanded such loyalty. Is that why your brother agreed to marry my sister?" When Dijana had been informed of the agreement, she felt powerless to refuse. After her head had been turned by the handsome ambassador from Varoonya, she did not want to have anything to do with another man until she learned that she was to marry the man that had freed her people. Looking at Stryfe now, his deep blue violet gaze meeting her own, she could not even remember what the Varoonyan looked like. She had once thought that she would never forget.

"My brother agreed to marry your sister because he had no reason to refuse. He had been given a great honor by the emperor."

"My sister had no choice."

"She did not wish to marry Lord Taeron?" Although he did not betray his thoughts, she wondered if she had heard a hint of relief in his question.

"At first she did, but after so many months and then years of waiting for him to come, she no longer wished to be his wife."

"And now?"

Dijana did not have the courage to tell him that she did not want to be his brother's wife. She should tell him who she was and why she was lying about her identity, but Dijana could not utter the few words that would end this lie.

He would have no choice but to tell his brother.

And his brother would have no choice but to end her miserable existence.


	18. Chapter 18 Dijana opens up

**Chapter 18**

There was something about Sharisse that drew Taeron to her against his will. Her sister was very beautiful, and he had made an oath to make her his wife, but he could not take his eyes off Sharisse when she was near, could not stop thinking about her. When she had challenged him in the practice yard, what he was afraid would happen did when she had fallen atop him. By the gods, he had been eager to wrestle in the dirt after that, but she had balked at resuming training and he had been glad at least one of them hadn't lost their sense. The men were probably talking about his improper behavior now, and soon enough his brother would learn of it to add to his reports to the emperor. Trey would be displeased to hear that he had been rolling about shamefully with his wife's sister.

And yet he wondered how he could get into another such situation with the female.

Shaking his head to clear it of such inappropriate thoughts, he remarked, "You heard us speaking."

"I...I wanted to talk to you about ..." Taeron sensed that what she wished to discuss was painful by her reticence. Taking a steadying breath, she said, "I wondered if you had written of what happened on Teralon to report to the emperor."

Taeron did not know exact details of what had transpired on Teralon before the arrival of the Calabrian warriors. The Varoonyans had controlled Teralon for nearly two months, during which the royal family remained in hiding after managing to escape before Prince Rangyar's warlord took possession of the palace and royal city. Prince Rangyar had come to Teralon hoping to find Princess Chaela to take as his captive which would have put Emperor Trey at his mercy. Taeron knew the emperor would have agreed to whatever the Varoonyan asked to free his daughter and grandson, but Rangyar had been thwarted from taking his hostage. Prince Rangyar's crimes had been many, so Taeron had taken particular pleasure carving up the merciless bastard when he had cornered him on Varoonya. The pathetic creature had begged for his life before Taeron ended it with a single stroke of his sword.

"I chronicled the Calabrian effort only," he told her although he did not honestly know exactly what his brother had written. Taeron had been ashamed of his role in the initial debacle on the planet so he had not read the account that Stryfe had given him. He would have Stryfe had surely given as thorough a report as he could to the emperor, but he had already admitted that the Teralonians were secretive when he had been trying to find out anything he could about Princess Dijana.

Sharisse's lovely eyes lowered. "I was afraid when they came to Teralon. They...they were unlike any other being..." She swallowed and pressed her lips shut.

Taeron knew what she spoke of. The vile lords of Varoonya fed off their own people, sucking their blood, enslaving and enthralling them to do their bidding. Once they had, there was no escape for them but death, and they would be forced to live only at the whim of their masters, forced to feed off others while doing the bidding of their lords. Varoonya had become a miserable planet, the people too weak to even work. Prince Rangyar left his sister to rule in his stead as he took his enthralled warriors to Teralon because warlord Kai had been threatening his rule with his many thousands of thralls. He had promised Teralon and its healthy populace to Kai, and with Chaela as a captive, he could keep the empire from retaliating. Fortunately she had managed to escape and remain in hiding to give her father time to send forces to liberate the planet.

Seeing Sharisse standing before him, the shadows in the depths of her clear green eyes, he guessed she had suffered during the brief occupation and that she was shamed by the experience. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he did not know how she would react.

Instead he tried to calm her fears about what she had overheard. "You need not worry about Calabria, Sharisse. We have no proof of what we were discussing. Prince Staefyn was headed to Varoonya to serve as governor, and there are many on Calabria who would prevent him from challenging his father." Taeron hoped it was true although he did not know enough about the most powerful house, Caron, to predict what their lords would do. They had been the last to capitulate to Trey's rule and the head of the house had withdrawn to his vast southern holdings, not visiting the imperial court in all of Taeron's memory.

"I met Prince Staefyn," admitted Sharisse, her voice soft and wavering. "He … he came to Teralon to visit his sister and he... he brought Ambassador Kai with him."

"Warlord Kai?" Taeron was startled to discover that Staefyn was acquainted with Rangyar's ruthless general. Now his mind began to race with the possibilities, awful possibilities of why Staefyn had suggested he take Taeron's place on Varoonya so that Taeron could claim his wife. Kai was somewhere on Varoonya with an army of thralls, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but with Taeron's frequent patrols to hunt for him, he was forced to hide. After all that he realized about Staefyn and his very probable role in Amyr's disappearance, Taeron knew Staefyn had a sinister reason for going to Varoonya.

"I did not realize that he was a warlord," aid Sharisse as she wrung her hands before her. "He … he came to Teralon claiming to be an ambassador, but he was a spy."

Her hurt affected Taeron profoundly and he could not resist putting his hands on her shoulders to soothe her. She was vulnerable now, unlike the fierce woman who had pushed his face in the dirt and humiliated him before his own men. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her that he would protect her, but when she raised her face to his, his gaze was drawn to the her full, moist lips. The male in him reacted to the female. His heart beat faster and without conscious thought, he slid his hands over the rough fabric covering her shoulders, up her neck to frame her face. One day he would see her dressed in fine silks, a contented smile on the rosy lips that now trembled just below his. When had he moved so close to her? Had he lost his mind? Did he care?

He would have touched his lips to hers then, but his brother's voice interrupted him. "Brother, the prince has sent for us."

Sharisse gasped softly, and slipping from his hands, she turned on her heel and hurried away. Taeron watched her speechlessly, his hands still raised. He was trembling and breathless, frustrated to have been interrupted yet relieved to have been stopped from doing something foolish.

Stryfe had come to stand beside him and he put his hand on his shoulder but Taeron barely felt it.

"Brother, you have it bad for that woman."

Taeron turned to look at him. "It?"

Stryfe gave him the smile he usually reserved for those times when he was using his human euphemisms that Calabrians took too literally. "It." His brother emphasized the word, and when Taeron frowned at him, still not comprehending his meaning, Stryfe rolled his eyes. "You want to mate with her."

Very much so, thought Taeron, but he would not admit to it, especially not to his brother. "I was comforting her."

Stryfe snorted with laughter. "I will be sure to include that in my report."

"You are not reporting on my personal actions!" Taeron was horrified, tried to imagine how he had looked standing in the road with his hands on Sharisse, about to put his lips to hers. Gods only knew what he would have done after the kiss. He had kissed women before, but he knew sharing a kiss with Sharisse was going to be far more meaningful than those empty kisses he had given to the females using him to get to Amyr.

"Come along, brother. Amyr calls and Quynn thinks we should face him together." He poked Taeron in the ribs with his elbow which only irritated. "I will protect you from your clumsiness."

His brother started walking, but Taeron caught up and grasped his arm, stopping him. "I know that it is your duty to report everything to the emperor, but I would rather you did not tell him what happened this morning between us."

Stryfe's brows rose. "Why not? He tried to kill you."

"I was in no danger." After concluding that Staefyn had caused Amyr's enslavement, Taeron did not want to bring more misery on him should the emperor learn what his son had tried to do to his own imperial guard.

"Do you want me to give the emperor Amyr's version, the version he gave to Sharisse?"

Taeron glanced in the direction that Sharisse had disappeared, wishing he could see her, but she was out of sight. "No one would believe that I fell on the sword."

Stryfe laughed as they headed to the castle. "The Calabrians were discussing your ineptitude and whether you feigned it so you could get your hands on the Teralonian female, or whether her nearness caused you to fumble about like a poorly trained recruit."

If his brother expected an answer, Taeron disappointed him by remaining silent. He thought briefly about her attempt to train him, how she did not seem as adept at fighting as she would have had him think. If she had continued to train him, Taeron had planned to find some way to instruct her instead. The female was a mystery to him. One minute she seemed as haughty as Amyr, and the next she was unsure. The next time he saw her, she would probably be as brittle and intractable as the day she tumbled onto the shuttle, but for those few moments he glimpsed the woman she hid from everyone, the woman that had been hurt. If her life had touched the evil of the Varoonyan warlord, then he wasn't surprised by her fears.

"What happened on Teralon before we arrived?" he asked Stryfe as they approached the castle.

Stryfe gave him an annoyed glance that told Taeron he had not forgotten that he gave him the written account. He wisely chose not to mock his lack of reading skill. "Did Sharisse tell you something about it? Because if she did, it would be more than any Teralonian has revealed about the invasion. Princess Chaela would not even speak of it. I believe that the king forbade it. He may feel dishonored to have been forced into hiding and accepting the aid of the empire."

"Sharisse told me that Kai was on Teralon posing as an ambassador before the invasion. Perhaps you could ask the princess for some information."

His brother frowned. "Why do you wish to reopen this wound? If the people of Teralon are content in forgetting what happened, then it would do no good to expose their shame. Isn't it enough that they allowed one of the most evil men of the binary system to live among them without realizing he was gathering information for an invasion?"

"I am afraid that Sharisse crossed his path."

Stryfe frowned at him. "Many crossed his path, Taeron, and you know that he tortured more men, women and children than Rangyar. Despite her ambiguous status in the royal household, Sharisse is still the daughter of the queen and would have been in hiding with them."

"Staefyn went to Teralon with Kai," Taeron told him.

"We knew that he had been on Teralon after he had gone to Varoonya," Stryfe reminded Taeron.

"But we did not know that he was traveling with Rangyar's warlord or that he was aiding Kai in his lies on Teralon." Taeron met his brother's gaze. "You do not believe that Staefyn did not know, do you? How could he not?" Until now, Taeron had not thought about Staefyn's brief visit to Varoonya, and he was disgusted to realize that Staefyn had visited Varoonya and did not report the atrocious conditions on the planet. The emperor would have sent an army to help the Varoonyans and could have prevented the attack on Teralon. Staefyn's inaction convinced Taeron without any doubt of his guilt.

For a moment Stryfe remained silent, a frown creasing his brow, but whatever he was thinking he did not voice. They came to the castle and headed straight to Amyr's room where they found the crowned prince pacing and Taeron could see that he was shaking with anger. When he realized they had arrived, he spun to glare at them.

"Where have you been?"

Taeron exchanged an annoyed glance with his brother and then spoke to Amyr. "Does it matter? I am here now."

"I see that you are healed,"he snapped irritably. "The healer took her time coming to me. I suppose she healed you immediately." He didn't wait for Taeron to answer before striding to the window where he pointed in the direction of the ship. "I need to return to Calabria."

"We aren't going anywhere until the long range transport is repaired," Taeron told him. "Keldar tells me that it may take several days at the very least."

"Tell him that I expect it to be completed within the next few days." Without waiting for a response, he looked at Stryfe. "You will inform your sister that I will take her back with me to live as my bonded mate."

For a only a breath Stryfe said nothing, and then he threw back his head in laughter. Taeron smiled as he imagined Quynn's response to Amyr's command.

Amyr glared. "She is my mate."

"So we have heard,"said Stryfe, now just chuckling. "Must be hell for you not to be able to draw the imperial sword at will."

The prince spun to look at Taeron. "In the absence of your father, are you not the head of your house?"

Taeron nodded to Stryfe. "His birth precedes mine."

"Bastards! Both of you!" snapped Amyr, knowing that they were mocking him.

He shouldn't be angered by the insult, but Taeron wanted to draw his sword, the sword that Sharisse had wanted to handle. When she suggested it, Taeron had oddly anticipated her holding his weapon in her hands although he could not very well have pulled the sword then and there. She would have wondered why he had the sword. Now he wanted to use the weapon for violence. How would it feel to kill Amyr with his own sword this time?

Amyr's gaze narrowed. "Who do you think you are, Taeron of the house Maxwell? Are you going to raise your sword against me again? Will you break another vow?"

Taeron meet his gaze without a word. What could he say? Was Amyr reading his mind with his Guerani powers or was he perceptive enough to realize how Taeron would respond to his abrasive remarks. He should be used to Amyr calling him a bastard when he had done throughout their childhood.

"What vow have I broken?" he demanded of Amyr. "I saved you and liberated you from slavery. I destroyed the creature that held you captive."

"You are lying to the Teralonian females." Amyr smirked as the color rose to his cheeks. "How do you think Princess Dijana would feel to know that she has been seduced by a scribe?"

"Hey!" spoke up Stryfe. "I may be a scribe, but I will have some scathing words to record that will hurt you as much as that sword to the heart."

Amyr took a step toward Stryfe, but Taeron's sword was in his hand in the next breath and the blade separated the prince from his brother. Their gazes clashed, Amyr furious, Taeron warning.

"You would harm me, to protect your brother? We were brothers long before that bastard arrived on Calabria."

"I would protect the imperial scribe," Taeron was annoyed that Amyr would challenge him when he knew he had no choice but to protect the emperor's scribe. "If you were ever my brother, then you will not make me do it."

For a tense moment, no one said anything, no one moved, and then Stryfe laughed nervously. "There are some benefits to being the scribe. Protection of an imperial guard just happens to be one of them."

With a growl, Amyr spun away and slammed his fists on the stone wall, before sliding down to his knees, bowing his head and holding out his arms before him, stretching them out to Taeron. "Gods! Forgive me Taeron! She has made me lose my mind!"

He would be a fool to trust Amyr, but Taeron put his sword away in the face of his humiliating supplication. He had only ever seen men sentenced to the worst punishments beg the emperor for forgiveness in such a manner and he felt embarrassed to witness Amyr groveling before him.

"Get up! We will go talk to her together."

Amyr slowly rose to stand again and when he looked at Taeron again, there were tears in his eyes. "You cannot imagine how grateful I am. Perhaps she will listen to you."

"Only if you keep your mouth shut," remarked Stryfe, and Taeron gave him a warning glance. They would not be able to tell when Amyr might lose control again, and neither of them really knew what Guerani powers he possessed. He did not want Amyr pillaging his thoughts and rearranging them to suit his needs.

"My brother is right. If you cannot control yourself, she will reject you again. As it is, she cannot bear the sight of you and will agree to speak to you only about the snake that is your brother."

"Staefyn!" Amyr scoffed. "That toadying little weasel is as harmless as a sand slug."

"I hear a lot about sand slugs," remarked Stryfe, "and I have yet to see one that has not been served up in a surprising variety of seasoning by the imperial chef."

Taeron looked at his brother. "My prince has forgotten that they are poisonous."

"Only an idiot would be poisoned by a sand slug," said Amyr.

"Huh! Then I guess your chances are pretty good," returned Stryfe.

As they left the room together, Amyr remarked to Stryfe, "I never realized what a fool you are. Why does my father tolerate you?"

"My good looks and charm, obviously, nitwit."

Taeron could not help but smile at his brother.

"How does the princess feel about your good looks and charm?" Amyr asked with a snort. "I cannot imagine that Taeron has the reputation for such." He turned his gaze to Taeron. "I doubt you have the reputation as being a liar and an oath-breaker either."

He met his gaze. "I have managed to overcome the damage you did to my reputation."

"I? If you were rolling about in the furs with a couple of Teralonian harlots instead of doing your duty, then it is because you wished to be."

Taeron stopped in the road, oblivious to other travelers who turned to look at them. Amyr glanced about and something made him smirk before he turned back to him. "You heard me correctly," he said in a low voice that only Taeron could hear. "You took wine in celebration..."

"I took no wine!"

Amyr ignored his denial. "You cannot blame me for taking those females to your bed." He reached out to pat his cheek. "Do not worry, my friend. I know it must be difficult to reign in your basest urges given the fact that your mother is a whore."

Stryfe's warning sounded as if it came from far away because the blood pushed through Taeron and filled him with rage and indignation. He leaped at Amyr, and he heard shouting for him to stop, but he would not until his fists made contact with royal imperial flesh. Amyr managed to trip him, but Taeron brought him to the ground with him, and as they rolled, raining fists on each other, he became aware that the Calabrian men had hurried to watch the fight, that they were cheering him, not their crown prince. Taeron was sickened to realize that Amyr had justification for blaming him for losing respect.

He could easily beat Amyr senseless again, but what would it accomplish except to prove what they all knew and what he would find it nearly impossible to escape? Amyr had squandered everything that had been given to him until there was almost nothing left. Taeron had taken the last, the respect that the crown prince should be given by his people. His own selfishness disgusted him. Taeron had fought so long and hard to overcome his father's neglect that he did not know how to stop.

Amyr sensed the turn in the fight and took every advantage. It was difficult not to use the instincts and reflexes that he had spent all his life honing, but Taeron reined them in so that Amyr could pommel him with his fists and his feet. When he lay wracked with pain from the beating, seeing Amyr's booted feet before him, he felt something that he did not think he would ever feel, and that was free of the guilt that he had borne for so long for what had happened to Amyr.

"You bastard! What have you done!?" Taeron heard Sharisse's voice, and the last thing he thought before he drifted into unconsciousness was that he was glad that he had not betrayed himself.


	19. Chapter 19 The thrall

**Chapter 19**

Some of the Calabrians who had gathered to watch the prince beat his scribe senseless now hurried forward to carry the unconscious man in the direction of the castle. Dijana had seen the men gathered and correctly deduced that violence had drawn them, but she had not expected to see the emperor's son beating Stryfe. She intended to follow the men to the castle, but first she marched up to the arrogant prince.

"Are you pleased with yourself, you Calabrian dog?" she demanded furiously. "You have beaten an unarmed, untrained man! Would this please the emperor, your father?"

The prince was frowning as he rubbed his knuckles. "No, I doubt very much that he would be pleased." He glanced at the men remaining, and Dijana noticed that they turned away from him in disgust, and then he looked at Lord Taeron who had remained behind. "Are you going to run to your sister now and tell her everything you saw and heard?"

She turned to look at the man she had agreed to marry and she was infuriated to see him shrug carelessly after he had stood back and watched the prince beat his brother along with the other men. Dijana knew that he could not act against Prince Amyr because he was his personal guard, but she could not believe that he had not even tried to stop him.

"I'm sure one of the men has already reached her and given her a thorough accounting, princeling. I've always thought a good way to court a woman is to brutalize her family. Just surprised that you agree." With those strange words he turned in the direction of the village. "I will find the healer."

"I will help him in the meantime." Although Dijana was hesitant to spend more time with Stryfe after having exposed too much of her past, she felt a strange ache in her chest as she remembered his bruised and battered body.

Before she could leave, the prince reached out to put his hand on her arm, but she skittered away before he could touch her, so he scowled at her. "Leave him for the healer," he ordered gruffly.

"I do not take orders from you!" she retorted. "You disgust me. The Calabrians were better off when you were dead to them." Turning, she hurried away, fearing how he might respond, ashamed at what she had said to Emperor Trey's son.

By the time she reached the castle, her anger had abated and she was more concerned about helping Stryfe. A servant told her where to find the battered scribe, so she left in that direction, but when she reached the hall near his room, she heard the men talking. She paused just outside the door, not wishing to overhear their conversation and yet wanting to know how they felt about what the prince had done.

"Why did you let him do that?" She frowned at the words of one of the men. If he was talking to Stryfe, she was glad that he was conscious, but he implied that Stryfe could have defended himself.

"Do you think he has earned our respect after that selfish exhibition?" demanded another man that she recognized as Keldar, the one of the pilots from the transport that had taken her from Teralon. Since coming to Norvana, she had seen him sporadically because he spent most of his time working on the derelict spacecraft.

"I wanted to give him a chance to cleanse the bile from his system," Stryfe responded and her frown deepened as she realized Stryfe was not as helpless as she had thought. Dijana felt foolish for her efforts in attempting to teach him something he already knew. Now she understood the Calabrians' odd behavior and she felt embarrassed to realize that they had been taunting him.

"Nothing can cleanse him of his bile," Keldar said, his tone angry. "We should leave him here!"

"Never!" Stryfe now sounded furious. "I have an obligation to him."

Confused about the conversation, Dijana stepped into the room. "What obligation do you have to him?"

The men turned to look at her, the surprise at seeing her apparent. She should have remained in the hall a little longer and she might have learned some Calabrian secrets. Stryfe seemed at a loss for words, which did not surprise her, but Keldar frowned at her.

"He has the obligation of recording the account of his captivity for the emperor."

His answer seemed ridiculous but no one laughed so Dijana wondered if the emperor truly placed such great value on his scribe's services. She had already been told that he was to be protected, but no one had helped him when the crown prince beat him. Prince Amyr must be above reproach and the idea infuriated her.

"Your brother has gone for the healer," she told Stryfe, and then she crossed the room to pour water into a basin and took the drying cloth nearby. "I will take care of your wounds as you await her."

Keldar's frown faded and he chuckled. "Good luck, my lord." he said before leaving with the other men and she could hear their low voices and the sound of laughter.

Although she was annoyed to think she was a source of amusement to them, she ignored them and went to where he sat on the edge of the bed. "Why did the pilot call you 'lord'?"

His brow furrowed for a moment, and then he said, "The men call me lord because of my father and my brother."

It seemed like a reasonable explanation although it did not ring true, not after what he had told her about earning the title. He had no reason to lie about his status, so she decided that she was imagining dishonesty. After what happened with Kai, Dijana had difficulty trusting any man, but she wanted to trust Stryfe.

She wet the cloth and turned to wash the dirt and dried blood from his face, noting that an eye was swollen and would turn dark without the aid of the healer. A trail of blood from the corner of his mouth had dried and she remembered the wound from that morning. She wanted to quip that he should keep the healer at his side, and she opened her mouth to say so, but at that moment, she wiped the blood from his face and a trail of fresh blood dribbled from his cut lip.

Staring at it, she suddenly grew cold, then hot and she must have swayed because he reached out to steady her with his hands on her waist. Her breath came faster, but not from his touch, and she wanted to push away from him as she had that morning when she saw the blood seeping from the wound under his chin, but she could not move. Did he speak? She couldn't hear him because he sounded as if he were far away. She could only see and smell his blood, and when her mouth watered, her gut wrenched and she lost control of her actions. Too much time had past since she had last taken blood and she could not be denied now.

Lurching forward, she pressed her lips to the wound that bled, licking his blood, savoring the taste before she shoved him back on the bed and clamped her lips over the wound and drew in a mouthful of blood. Dijana had never known such pleasure from the blood of another, and as she swallowed, a dizzying sense of euphoria surged through her, igniting her body.

But the pleasure was interrupted when he suddenly jerked away and her moan of disappointment was cut short as he moved quickly to thrust her from him, propelling her off the bed and to the floor where he pinned her down with a knee pressed painfully into her chest.

He grasped her hair to jerk back her head so that he exposed her throat to a blade he held in his hands. She could not breathe, but he was panting, from exertion, from the arousal that her feeding had given him. She knew what he was feeling because she had felt it herself, many times, too many times when she had been the victim. She was not the victim now, and Dijana knew what she looked like in his eyes, his blood staining her lips, the whites of her eyes red. She had become the monster that she loathed and she wished he would kill her.

Their eyes met, and she saw shock and anger in his midnight purple eyes.

"Brother! What are you doing?" Dijana did not take her gaze from his, but she recognized his sister's voice and knew that she must have arrived with the healer.

"Stay back! She is a Varoonyan thrall." His breathing was still erratic, but he had managed to warn them and she wondered why he had not used the blade he held to the pulse at her neck.

But his words made her shudder with self-loathing. At least he had not called her an abomination as her father had when he learned what she had become, but hearing Stryfe announce what she was had the power to make her wish she was dead. After everything Kai had done to her, he had left her to live as the vile creature he had made her. Seeing the disgust on Stryfe's face now was worse than anything she had suffered at the warlord's hands. The scribe had been the first man in many years not to shun her, but now that would come to an end. She would rather be dead than live with his contempt.

"Put that thing away," she heard the healer order. "And let her go. You are hurting her."

"She is a leech," snarled Stryfe, not taking the dagger's blade from her throat.

"Let her go," repeated Carrinda. "If you do not, you will regret it, my lord."

"You had better do as she says," Quynn suggested. "She has some powerful nasty spells that you don't want her using on you." Suddenly the weight was gone and she could breathe again.

Dijana pushed herself away from him, scrambling back until she felt the wall at her back, and she drew up her legs to wrap her arms around. Stryfe was glaring at her accusingly. "She was sucking my blood," he told them as he tucked away his dagger. "Did you see her eyes? I have seen that before, on the battlefield on Teralon and Varoonya."

Carrinda approached her and when Stryfe tried to stop her by putting out his arm, she batted it away. "She is not the first blood thrall I have seen, although I have not seen any female thralls. I doubt this was by her choice." She squatted before her and reached out to touch Dijana who could not move any further away to avoid her touch. "You have a master."

Tears filled her eyes, but she nodded and raised her head to meet the kind gaze of the woman before her. She avoided looking at Stryfe. His tone told her all she needed to know. He had been on Varoonya with his brother who had earned his fame killing men who were like her.

"Who is it?" demanded Stryfe, stepping towards her, his hands curled into fists. "None of those bastards was left on Teralon."

"Kai!" blurted Dijana, mortified and yet relieved to admit to her disgrace. "He did this to me on Teralon before the imperial warriors drove him away."

"How could he have done this to you?" demanded Stryfe furiously. "Why were you not with the royal family?" When she did not answer, he turned on his heel and strode rapidly from the room.

"Don't worry," crooned Carrinda soothingly. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

But Dijana could only think of Stryfe finding Sharisse and demanding answers to his questions. He would discover the truth, the truth tainted by Sharisse, and she could not bear his censure when he heard what she had to say.

She shot to her feet and rushed out, ignoring the shouts behind her, but he moved swiftly and she had to run to catch up to him. "Stryfe!" she cried out, her voice shrill with panic. "Wait, Stryfe! I beg of you!"

He did not wait, and he seemed to fly down the steps and out the door of the castle. Once he was on the road, she was afraid that she would not be able to catch him, but he suddenly stopped, and she almost ran into him.

He spun and grasped her arm firmly, dragging her from the path and heading towards a small copse nearby with a handful of trees that would afford them some privacy. He did not speak until they were standing beneath a tree whose long branches were weighted down with leaves and vines. He released Dijana, then paced from her, not looking at her and she felt a weight in her chest. How had his opinion become so important to her? Because he was the only man that had ever looked past Sharisse to see her as she was and did not reject her outright.

Suddenly he stopped and turned to look at her and the ache in her chest grew more painful as their eyes met. She felt as if he held her heart in his hands, and despite everything she had suffered, she scolded herself for her wayward feelings. She must not feel this way for a scribe! Since she was a small child she knew that it was her duty to marry a warrior, and a man who made his way in life scribbling tales to amuse the emperor could not lead men into battle. Why would this man want her, knowing now what he did about her? And yet she wanted to press her body against his, to run her fingers through his hair and nuzzle her face into his neck and …

Tears spilled over her lashes now as she imagined how his pulse would feel against her lips, how she could nick his flesh with her teeth, how his blood would taste as she nursed it from his neck. Her stomach lurched, not with disgust, but with hunger and need.

His face did not betray his thoughts, but she knew how she looked in his eyes.

"I am sorry,"she managed to say after swallowing the saliva flooding her mouth in anticipation of feeding.

"Tell me what happened," he said, his voice no less harsh than when he had called her a leech.

Dijana couldn't speak in her present condition. As if he knew her predicament, he pulled out his dagger and before she could gasp in fear, he had dragged the razor sharp blade across his palm. To her surprise, he held out his hand to her, blood dripping between his fingers. Tears ran freely down her cheeks now, but Dijana could not stop herself from falling to her knees before him and grasping his hand like an animal to bring it to her mouth. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she licked his fingers, laving them thoroughly before pressing her lips to the wound he had made, sucking in his blood, tasting its richness mingling with the bitterness of her tears.

He stepped closer and she felt his fingers threading through her hair to hold her head to his hand. His touch soothed her and as her hunger abated, she was able to feed without shame choking her. The blood flowed faster, so she knew he was feeling the arousal that a feeding caused to stimulate the flow of blood. Kai had fed from her often enough that she knew what happened and why. He had laughed at the need he had created in her, rejecting her when she was desperate, using her only when she was lucid and tried to fight him.

Stryfe caressed her, slid his fingers lower to stroke the back of her neck and she heard his heavy, sensual sigh. "You … you have to stop or … or I will dishonor both you and me."

Dijana wanted him to dishonor her, to bring him down into the tall grasses with her where she could run her hands over the muscles she felt during their short training session. She wanted to be with a male in pleasure and not in pain and humiliation. But some rational part of her recognized the tortured note in his voice and she could not take advantage of him.

Running her tongue across the wound, she watched as it fused and faded, but before she could stand and try some explanation, he fell to his knees before her, and he guided her head to his, lowering his own until his lips were above hers. "I want to kiss you."

"Because of what I have done?" she asked breathlessly. She wanted to feel his lips against hers, to experience the intimacy with him.

He did not answer before his lips touched hers, gentle, caressing and the ache in her chest became unbearable. His hand moved slowly from her neck down to her back, gently pressing her closer to him as his lips parted. Dijana moaned with pleasure from the brief caress of his tongue against hers.

But before she could experience more, Stryfe raised his head, and his hands moved to her shoulders. "Tell me what happened," he said gently and she wondered if he seduced her just to get answers, to learn the details to add to his account of the attack on Teralon. Looking at his eyes, she did not see a cold-hearted scribe looking for information. Yet Dijana knew she was not a good judge of character because if she had been, she would never have given Kai the opening he needed in Teralon.

"Kai came to Teralon to negotiate a match with a princess of Teralon for his lord, Prince Rangyar. That is what he told Balak, and he trusted him because he arrived with Prince Staefyn who had come to visit his sister."

"Staefyn," hissed Stryfe, the name like a curse on his lips. "Did that dog touch you?"

She shook her head. Dijana did not like remembering her foolish behavior in those days before the invasion. She had been excited to meet the emperor's son, to entertain the idea that she might escape Teralon as a bride of Calabria or Varoonya. But like every other male that came to Teralon, Staefyn had been more interested in Sharisse and even then made it clear that he had found a bride on Calabria and was not looking for a wife elsewhere. Kai had not seemed to even notice her beautiful, vivacious sister and Dijana had been moved beyond common sense to find herself the object of his affections.

"Staefyn visited his sister briefly before leaving, but Kai remained behind." Dijana did not want to expose herself to Stryfe, but he had just experienced the worst he could about her, so she had no pride to lose in his eyes. "He courted me, not my sister." Dijana did not want to cry again, but she could not stop when she felt the stabbing pain of Kai's betrayal in her heart. Stryfe reached up to brush them away with the backs of his fingers, surprising her with his gentleness when he had not reason do feel anything but revulsion for her.

"I know that I am not the beauty that my sister is. You need not pretend otherwise, Stryfe. She has always attracted males while they ignore me. A man like Kai," like you, she added silently, "turned my head. I told him things that I should not have, and when he left and when the Varoonyan forces arrived, Balak blamed me."

"What did he do?" Dijana was surprised that he did not sound as if he had judged her guilty of inviting the Varoonyans to Teralon as Balak had charged. She would never forget his hateful words accusing her of jealousy and resentment towards them all.

"I … I trusted Kai," she whispered, ashamed to admit it to Stryfe. "I thought … I thought he cared about me." Dijana shook her head. How stupid she had been, to think that a man like warlord Kai could love her! "When I realized the truth, it was too late. I had shown him the secret entrance into the palace through the grotto. A guard in the tunnel escaped and warned us that the Varoonyans were coming. My father escaped from the roof with … with my sister, and Avar had taken Princess Chaela after I offered to distract the warlord."

"You offered?" he demanded. Somehow Stryfe knew the truth. Dijana had been terrified by the creature Kai revealed himself to be, but her father forced her to remain behind. She hadn't been brave. She had begged to go with them, and when he refused to take her, she had become hysterical until Avar had beaten her into unconsciousness. When she came to, they were long gone and she had raised her head enough to see that she was at Kai's feet. His fury at losing his prey knew no limit and for many days after, she wished Avar had killed her.

"Was there no one to defend you? Your sister? Your brother? Princess Chaela?" He said the last with deep regret.

"What could she do?" asked Dijana. "She was with child. She had to protect herself and my brother's child." Princess Chaela had given Avar a son which would have been lauded on Calabria, but Avar had been disappointed. He had hoped that his child would be a female so that he could repudiate her rights and offer his daughter as their mother's heir. After what Kai had done to her, he might have succeeded with the council, but a male child was worthless in their eyes. What was worse, his son was born without wings which made him an aberration.

"What happened to you was not your fault. But I vow to you that I will end Kai's miserable existence on my sword for what he did to you." He held up his hand where she had fed. "When you need my blood again, do not hesitate to seek me." He leaned forward and when he pressed his lips to her forehead, a contented sigh escaped between her lips. "I will tell my brother what you have told me, and after he has heard what I have to say, he will not honor any vow made to a man who could treat any woman as you have been treated. There will be no marriage between Lord Taeron and Princess Dijana."

Dijana should have been relieved, but she did not know what would happen to her if she did not fulfill the terms of the agreement between Teralon and Calabria. She had wanted to prove herself to Lord Taeron, to find some way to thank him for liberating her from the beast that had tortured her for many passings of the second sun. Prince Amyr's failed assault had allowed Kai the opportunity to torture her one last time before fleeing with his men when the Calabrians had breached the palace defenses. He had violated her brutally, then drained her of so much blood that he almost killed her before he forced her to drink his blood, making her his thrall. The returning winged warriors led by her brother found her in the grotto, convulsing at the foot of the statue of her beautiful mother, befouled and barely alive. Since that day, no one had spoken of what had happened to Princess Dijana. In truth, from that moment on, Princess Dijana had ceased to exist.


	20. Chapter 20 Amyr's plight

**Chapter 20**

The tender scene Amyr witnessed, disgusted him, not so much because he did not have the sensibility to feel, but because Taeron was experiencing something Amyr did not think he ever would. How was that any different from every aspect of his life? Taeron was respected by the imperial warriors. Taeron's parents loved him. Amyr's parents adored him. Taeron should have been his father's son instead of the bastard of his imperial guard.

He waited until the revolting female left before approaching Taeron. He had gone to the castle to find him, for what he did not know although he thought he should find out if he had hurt him badly. If he did, he might have to appoint one of the other men as his imperial guard and that was a situation he wanted to avoid because he did not trust any of them. On his way to the castle, he had seen Taeron exit rapidly, the Teralonian female chasing him, calling his brother's name, so he had followed and was shocked to come upon them to see the female drinking Taeron's blood with relish. Amyr had been horrified that his guard and adopted brother had not only allowed her, but had appeared to enjoy the experience. The Teralonian female had Taeron under her spell, and now Amyr worried that because she had taken his blood, she might have some power over him.

Amyr would not have given Sharisse a second look except that she had attracted Taeron's attention instead of the beautiful princess to whom he had given an oath to take as his wife. If Amyr had agreed to marry Princess Dijana, he would not have wasted any time mating the sensual female, so Taeron's interest – nay obsession – with her sister had made Amyr take a closer look. When she had burst in on his conversation with Stryfe, Amyr had seen a rather plain female, but when she exploded with fury and the color rose to her cheeks as she insulted him, he realized her potential beauty. She reminded him of the thistle flowers in Lady Trynity's garden, except that she had not yet bloomed. Her eyes were a lovely glittering green in a pale face that was finely boned with full lips that drew a male's attention. Amyr could not blame Taeron for touching his lips to hers, and yet seeing him do it bothered him.

Taking advantage of Stryfe's penchant for gossip, Amyr had learned that his father had demanded an oath so binding of Taeron that breaking it was tantamount to treason. Yet he was on the verge of breaking that oath by refusing the princess of Teralon because he had fallen in love with a woman that had been despoiled by a monster, who was bound to that monster until his death. Anger welled up inside Amyr that Taeron would risk his future if not his life for that despicable creature. If disaster befell Taeron because of his choice, who could Amyr trust enough to protect him?

When he stepped out from where he had been hiding, Taeron glanced at him without betraying any surprise. Of course the bastard knew he had there, probably knew exactly when he had come upon them trysting under the tree.

"You think you can make everything right for her?" Amyr demanded, irritated to see that no one had healed the scrapes and bruises he had given him. Amyr did not need to be reminded what kind of an ass he had been by raising his hand to his own imperial guard and by continuing to beat him when Taeron had obviously stopped fighting him. "You made a vow to her and you made a vow to my father. And what of your vow to me? How can you protect me when you have put yourself at her beck and call?"

Taeron's gaze did not waver. "I would walk through the hell of the gods for you, my prince, have already done so although you seem to think fighting blood-sucking Varoonyans and their thralls was easy. I did those things in your name, to avenge your death. If I had to choose between you and her, it would kill me to do so, but my vow to you remains until you release me from it and I would never ask you to do so."

His passionate answer mollified Amyr. This determined man was the Taeron he recognized. "You may not be able to keep your vow to her, Taeron. If you haven't found Kai by now..."

"I know where to look now," Taeron interrupted him, his chin set stubbornly. "I am sure that Staefyn has offered him protection on Calabria."

There was nothing Amyr could say that would dissuade Taeron from his prejudice against Staefyn, but Amyr could not believe Staefyn capable of masterminding a plot that ended with his own enslavement and Taeron trapped beyond the frontier. As for insurrection against his father, Amyr thought it preposterous when Staefyn had always been their father's cherished son. Whatever had come between Staefyn and Taeron so many years ago was clouding his judgment now.

Dismissing the ridiculous charge, he said, "I heard what she said..."

"Of course you did. I knew you were skulking around like a hill weasel."

Amyr grit his teeth, furious that Taeron would compare him to the wretched rodent that was a pestilence in the Guerani hills. "Should I teach you another lesson?"

Taeron snorted. "There is no audience this time."

The last time there had been no audience on the shuttle flight from Ulfynaeus to the surface after Quynn had abandoned him was still a painful memory. Taeron had not held back that day and Amyr had received the first, but certainly not the last, beating of his life. "That would defeat whatever purpose you had in allowing me to pummel you before the men."

Taeron shrugged. "It would be easy enough to find the healer to erase the physical evidence." He did not have to say that the memory of this beating would probably supplant the other.

Clenching his fists at his sides, Amyr wished he had taken his lessons more seriously so that he could challenge him with a sword. When they were younger, he had not cared why Taeron had worked so hard to become the fighter that stood before him now, a fighter that evoked fear from enemies and admiration from others. Amyr had never had a need to earn anyone's approval, so he had mocked Taeron's efforts which seemed to make him work even harder. The result stood before him now, the most feared of Calabria's warlords.

"Do you think I appreciate what you did, allowing yourself to be beaten?" Raising his hand to him had been a mistake in front of the handful of imperial warriors, warriors that would probably never trust him. "The men respect me even less for taking my fists to the hero of Varoonya."

"I misjudged."

Taeron made a mistake?

"Hey! Here you guys are." The fool scribe had come upon them before Amyr could react to Taeron's admission. "Quynn sent me looking for ..." he looked around carefully, doubtlessly searching for the Teralonian female, before he finished. "Taeron."

Amyr snorted derisively. "You should tell those females who you are and claim your mate instead of lying and dallying behind her back with her ugly sister." He was amused to see the anger in the stiffening of Taeron's body.

Sensing imminent violence, Stryfe stepped between them. "This fighting has got to stop! The men are grumbling about how you treated my brother, and while I don't care what they say about you, I don't want you dragging my brother down with you, princeling. Those kinds of fights are pretty common on Earth, but I have discovered that they are rare on Calabria."

"A man of honor uses only his sword," Amyr told him to which Taeron nodded.

"There you have it. Two guys without much honor beating on each other." Stryfe chuckled at the look Amyr must be giving him if it matched Taeron's. "I had an idea when we were talking earlier about my sword skills. You are right, Taeron, that they have suffered from disuse. Maybe since we have so much time waiting for the ship to be repaired, you can help me."

"I would appreciate the chance to practice." Nothing pleased Taeron more than swinging his sword, so his answer was not surprising even though Amyr thought his time would be wasted on the pitiful scribe.

But that reminded him of his own performance against Taeron in the arena, and Amyr was galled to have to turn to Taeron for help. "I would ask for the same favor."

Taeron turned his head to look at him. "Is this some sort of ploy on your part?"

"What kind of ploy?" he asked with annoyance. "Do you think I plan to stab you when you are not looking? How could it even happen when you see and know everything before it even happens? That should be obvious after how you defeated me in the arena."

"He is right," said Stryfe with a snort. "Your performance was quite miserable before my brother finally put you out of your shameful misery. I am only surprised you weren't killed long before Taeron humiliated you."

Amyr glared at Stryfe. Wasn't it enough that he took Taeron's affections from him after all the years they had spent together? Wasn't it enough that the female with whom he had shared his mother's womb rejected him when he desperately needed her? Did he have to insult him so frequently?

"What have you written of the incident?" he demanded with annoyance.

"Enough to put you to shame, but then I'm not really sure how much that is since you are shameless."

"If you were not my mate's brother..."

"I am not your mate!"

Amyr spun to see that Quynn had approached with the healer, Carrinda. She was glaring at him with her hands on her hips and he went weak in the knees at the sight of her even though the look she wore on her face warned him that she would enjoy throwing more footwear at him. As usual, when she was near, he could not think rationally and his mouth did not care about any common sense he might possess.

"You can deny all you wish, but you are my mate." He ignored the rolling of her brother's eyes. Amyr did not care about the scribe's opinion.

A hand on his arm drew his attention and he found Taeron looking at him intently. He expected some dire warning about his behavior towards his human sister, but he said instead, "If you are earnest in your desire to learn from me, then I would be honored to teach you. The men have requested training practice, so tomorrow I am working with them." Amyr was surprised by the intensity of his gaze. Did Taeron truly wish to help him? His imperial guard's altruism bothered Amyr more than his scorn because it made him feel smaller in his own eyes.

"Will the thrall join you?" Amyr wanted to lash out at Taeron for the feeling of self-loathing that had settled in his heart. Gods damn Taeron! Amyr did not like this feeling at all!

"I will find some way to keep her attention diverted," volunteered Quynn, speaking to Taeron as she avoided even a stray glance in Amyr's direction. "You won't have to worry that she will attempt to … train you again."

He gave his sister a grateful smile and nod before turning back to Amyr. "We will spend the early part of the evening in training because the daylight hours are needed for repairs on the ship."

"Mordrad has a training yard on the far side of the castle where you can have some privacy," Quynn told them. "He would also like to see your training because he was very impressed by your performance in the arena."

"You mean the one where he made Prince Amyr look like a poorly trained monkey fighting with a stick?" asked Stryfe with a chuckle.

Amyr frowned. "I do not know what a monkey is, but I do not fight with a stick." He caught the smile that passed between the siblings and he grew rigid with anger to be mocked before his mate. "Scribe, do you not have anything useful to do? I cannot imagine that you have recorded the entirety of this adventure since you have been masquerading as your brother. Have you included that detail in the official account to the emperor?"

To his annoyance Stryfe smirked. "Every detail, princeling. But you have reminded me of some work I need to complete. I look forward to crossing swords with you on the practice field."

"That oaf thinks he can best me?" asked Amyr when Stryfe had sauntered away whistling to himself.

"I am quite sure that he can," Taeron said.

Amyr did not want to think about the potential shame of losing a match against the scribe.

"I have come to heal Lord Taeron," spoke up Carrinda although the lovely healer was clearly amused by the exchange that she had silently observed. "Perhaps this discussion should stop before I am forced to heal Prince Amyr yet again today."

"I agree," said Quynn. "He is close to having parts of him that he uses all too often injured grievously."

Amyr understood that reference. "Those parts do not function, so I doubt I will be feeling much pain." Unfortunately, those parts were functioning now as he drank in the sight of his mate. She had been slender before her flight from Calabria, but now she was curvaceous and womanly, and his fantasies about how she would feel in his hands made his mouth water. "Woman,"he growled, knowing that he was going to say something stupid yet unable to stop himself. "I need you."

"Is that meant to seduce me?" Quynn snorted with unwomanly laughter that reminded Amyr of her father. He wanted her even more despite her mockery.

"I burn for you." He didn't care who heard his pathetic attempt at courtship. He had courted her on Calabria several years ago. He should not have to do it now, but he was desperate to touch her, to hold her, to take her as a man takes a woman to whom he has given his life.

Why was she so damn obstinate? Surely it was her mother! Lady Trynity had not submitted easily to become Lord Duo's mate. Amyr had heard his father complain that Lord Duo deserved a more biddable mate although Amyr had noted that his father's imperial guard seemed more relaxed since taking the human female into his house. Amyr had never known him to be so happy, so he must attribute it to Lady Trynity. Quynn was making this more difficult than it needed to be! Did she not realize how much pleasure he would give her? How could she continue to refuse him?

Taeron rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes tightly closed. "My prince, please stop talking." Carrinda finished her spell to heal him so the scrapes were gone and the bruises had faded. The healer was looking between Amyr and Quynn with silent laughter in her eyes. He would be angry if he were not so engulfed in need for his mate. Satisfying that need had taken precedence over dignity.

Quynn took a step closer to him and Amyr was overpowered by her womanly scent, and when she beckoned him with both hands, he nearly groaned aloud believing that she was relenting.

But she was mocking him. "Go on, princeling,"she goaded, borrowing her brother's derogatory term for him. "I want to hear more. You had so much to say on Calabria when you wanted to trick me into giving you my vow. You were almost poetic. What happened to your eloquent flattery?"

"I am not courting you!" he said with frustration. He was aching with her standing so close.

"You mean you are not lying to me now, but you were then!"

He was painfully aware that Carrinda and Taeron were watching, the former with amusement and the latter with annoyance. "Can we have this conversation in private?"

"No!" blurted Taeron, stepping forward. "I forbid it!"

Did Taeron think he would overpower his sister and force her to submit? The mere thought was as repugnant to him as taking another female in her place. His bond to her subjugated him to her will. Amyr hated it, and yet he wanted it if only she would acknowledge his need of her.

Now Quynn turned on Taeron. "You forbid it? Since when do I have to listen to you?"

"You did not listen to me when I gave you advice five years ago. Perhaps you should start." Taeron was glaring at her and she was returning the glare.

Holding his breath, Amyr waited for her predictable rebellion. He was not disappointed. "I can take care of myself, brother. Why don't you go find Stryfe so the two of you can figure out how to get yourself out of this mess with the bird women of Teralon." She spun to look at Amyr. "Come with me. We will discuss this in private."

Amyr was so happy that Taeron had overreached that he wanted to hug him. Instead he forced himself not to gloat as he fell into step behind Quynn. Her backside was so lovely, her hips keeping his attention riveted to her gait. He tried not to imagine what it would be like to lie with her, but he could not help but think of the dream, the one that she claimed was a trance that he had initiated. If he could do it, he would have done it many times by now.

"I can hear you panting," she remarked over her shoulder. "You are getting the wrong idea. I have no intention of burning the sheets with you any time soon."

Burning the sheets. Her human expressions often confused him, but that one he certainly understood. When they mated the sheets would indeed burn.

"According to Taeron, I don't have to worry about you ever cheating on me again," she commented.

"I cannot."

She made another obvious sound of disgust. "We both know that if you could, you would do it in a heartbeat."

Amyr caught up to her and seized her arm to pull her around to face him. He should not have because she came up against him and he became disoriented because the blood rushed through him straight to that part of him that was already painful. "I ... I ..." his tongue suddenly felt too thick in his mouth.

Her deep violet gaze was on his face, her expression lacking any compassion. "Can't speak, princeling?"

He wanted to tell her that he would have changed for her, but he knew that he would have had no choice. Once they had gone through the bonding ceremony, his body would have belonged to her regardless of what he wanted. How could she have expected to give up all those sweet morsels that had yet to be tasted? He had just one more night, one more chance to sample them.

As if she could read his thoughts, she yanked her arm from his hand and strode away.

Amyr could do nothing but watch speechlessly. The pain was unbearable and he was sure now that Quynn would never forgive him. Falling to his knees, he covered his face with his hands, wanting to weep for what he had lost, what he would never have. Quynn. She despised him and had every reason to do so. He had used her to get both his father's and Lord Duo's approval. That she was beautiful and fiery and bold had been a bonus. But he lost her even before he had her. He thought of that day, when he gave her the rose and she had melted in his arms. If Taeron had not stopped him that day, he would have dishonored her there in the hall, against the wall as if she were a common whore. Taeron should have given him a beating then.

"You are in pain."

"You cannot help me," he responded to the healer who was standing over him.

She put her hands on his shoulders. "Quynn has told me about your dilemma."

"And you must find it amusing," he growled. He wished she would not touch him because her nearness was repulsive enough. His stomach was twisting and he was going to vomit soon if she did not move away. By the gods! He should not have this reaction to such a beautiful female!

"I am a healer. I do not find any pain amusing and certainly not the kind of pain from which you suffer." Carrinda massaged his shoulders and he felt warmth from her hands, spreading with the intensity of a low flame throughout his body. This was how he felt when she brought him back to life and healed his wounds.

He wanted to jerk away from her because he realized she was changing him now, not healing him but dissolving what tied him to Quynn, but the euphoria from her touch was spreading throughout him was too good to resist and he heard himself whimper.

"I am sorry if you did not want your bond to be broken,"she said softly, her warm breath caressing his neck. For the first time since the day he made his oath to Quynn, he felt pleasure, but instead of being relieved, sadness settled in his heart. "You are free of her and she is free of you."

With those words, Carrinda released him and walked away.

Amyr became aware of wetness on his cheeks and as he rubbed his face of the tears he had shed, he realized that one pain had disappeared and he was free to glut his need on any female that crossed his path. But the physical pain had been replaced by the one in his chest in knowing that the one woman that could ease that pain would probably never give him a chance to earn her forgiveness.


	21. Chapter 21 Revelation for Quynn and Amyr

**Chapter 21**

"Why are you sad?" Yori frowned and tilted his head as he looked at her. "Or are you angry?"

Quynn finished cleaning his face and hands without responding. He had made a mess with the jam and bread he ate for breakfast and this particular morning she had little patience. She was not sure if she had slept at all the night before although Yori had to wake her long after sunrise to complain that he was hungry.

After Carrinda stopped by to tell her that she had cured Amyr of his problem, Quynn should not have expected him to come to her, but that tiny part of her heart in which he still held ground, she hoped that he felt something for her, that everything he had said to her during their courtship had not been a lie. But he had not come and Danlaer, who had told her what Amyr had done to Taeron the previous day, also informed her that the prince had gone back to the castle, probably to quickly ease his ache on the first female to cross his path and with any subsequent females thereafter for the rest of the night. He no longer had a need to waste time on her.

She tried to smile at Yori, but the boy could sense her feelings so it was a waste of time to pretend. "I will be busy today helping the Calabrians with the ship." If he did not know how she felt now, it was because she did not know herself.

"Can I come with you?" Yori bounced with excitement. "I want to see the ship! Will I see uncle Taeron? I want to see his sword." Then he asked sheepishly, "Will my father be there?"

"Your … your father?!" She stared at him incredulously. "Where did you get the idea that ... that …?"

"Prince Amyr is my father," Yori told her as if he were telling her that the sun rose and set. "Jeshed told me so."

Quynn shook her head. "Jeshed does not know what he is talking about." The dragon annoyed her at times, much like Taeron had annoyed her by thinking he could dictate her actions. She wanted to ask when Yori had communicated with Jeshed, but she did not get a chance because a sharp rap at the door preceded the entrance of her brother.

"Uncle Stryfe!" Yori slid off the chair, avoiding one last swipe of the washcloth before dashing across the cottage and shrieking with laughter as Stryfe seized him and tossed him in the air before catching him and tucking him on his hip.

"Good morning sis! You are free now. Should we celebrate?"

Before she could respond, Taeron pushed past him. "She is not free, if you speak of my prince. She has made an oath on the honor of our father's house."

Quynn would have responded that the damage to their father's house was already done, but now Amyr pushed his way into her cottage which suddenly felt far too crowded.

"As if you know anything of oaths!" He glanced briefly at Yori who gave him a wide, heart-rending smile, and then Amyr turned to look at Quynn, his amber gaze warming her too much. This was the prince that had seduced her. He wore an ornate tunic, and she guessed that it was one of the many that Lady Larya had made for Taeron.

"Stealing my brother's clothing now?"

Amyr shrugged. "Offering me his clothing is the least my imperial guard can do for me."

A glance at Taeron told her that he did not care. Quynn could imagine his overprotective mother stitching the design of his father's house in his ceremonial robes and tunics, especially since she thought he was heading to Teralon for a wedding celebration. Taeron was probably glad to be rid of some of his marriage trousseau since he preferred to dress less ostentatiously. Since he was wearing Stryfe's clothing now, he appeared to be very uncomfortable. She had already noted that Taeron could not get through a morning without causing grievous injury to their brother's garments and she had a pile of tunics waiting to be stitched up so that he could wear them.

"Will I have an imperial guard some day?" asked Yori.

Quynn held her breath as Amyr turned to look at Yori. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, but he continued to stare at the boy. Suddenly Yori's eyes filled with tears and he pushed away from Stryfe, dropping to his feet on the floor and dashing out of the cottage. Amyr grunted and turned back to Quynn, but she was so furious that she swung out to slap his face. She did not know what Yori had sensed, but she had never seen her son so upset.

Before she could feel the satisfaction of giving him back some of the pain he had clearly given her child, her wrist was seized and she was shocked to find Taeron holding it in his firm grasp. "I cannot allow you to strike my lord prince," he warned her.

Amyr chuckled and nodded to her brother who released her. Quynn felt betrayed although she could hardly blame Taeron for doing his duty. "What did you do to Yori?" she demanded of the arrogant Calabrian.

"Do? I? I did not even speak to him!" Amyr moved away, taking the short tour of her small cottage. "You live in this hovel when you could be living in the castle?"

She ignored his jibe since he only meant it to distract her from his exchange with Yori. "You did something to Yori! He can sense the feelings of others and I want to know what he sensed from you!" Quynn was afraid of what feelings he had transmitted to him after his hateful remark at the castle the previous day.

He surprised her by turning to spear her with his gaze. "He can read feelings?" Now Amyr paled and he shook his head. "That cannot be!"

"Why?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Why did he look ashamed now?

He opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it and Quynn could see that he was shocked and confused.

Stryfe had watched the entire exchange without commenting, but now he chuckled. At times like this he reminded her most of her grandfather who thought humor was the best way to diffuse a tense moment. "I think Prince Amyr has just discovered that he is a daddy."

"Shut up!" hissed Amyr at the same time the heart seemed to stop beating in her chest. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh yes I do. You forget who I am and what I have been doing since coming to Calabria. Because I can read the ancient Guerani texts, I have studied them thoroughly. One of the first manifestations of Guerani power is the ability to read feelings."

Quynn gasped. "That is not possible!" She shook her head as if denying what she did not want to admit would make it any less true.

"He probably had the ability during his first year. Was he an easy infant to care for? The Guerani young sense their parents moods and as a means of self preservation, they adjust to them. By now he probably has some rudimentary healing powers and may be able to initiate and sustain a trance."

"I cannot initiate a trance!" exploded Amyr, then clamped his mouth shut as if he had not meant to reveal he had powers. His admittance made her heart drop and she knew that she must accept the truth, that Yori was his son, her son.

Stryfe snorted. "Well, we all know what a baby you are, princeling, so just be patient a little longer. By the time you are out of your diapers, you will be initiating a trance as well, as if you haven't already."

"I cannot …."

"Staefyn did it," announced Taeron. "He initiated the trance."

"I don't want to imagine the kind of power he has if he pulled Amyr and Quynn into a trance from so far away," said Stryfe.

"He did not pull Quynn in, but he drew Amyr in and he was not so far away. Sharisse told me that he was acquainted with Kai, and I think they were more than mere acquaintances. He probably met him when Rangyar came to Calabria hoping to win Princess Shamara for his bride. They may have begun planning then, and those plans were put into motion when Staefyn went to Varoonya, then to Teralon." Taeron was frowning. "I remember more clearly now what happened the night of the battle on Teralon. When I thought you had come back to the tent, I first imagined I saw Staefyn, but I had been drugged and at the time I thought I was mistaken. I am sure, now, that it had been Staefyn. Staefyn put me in a trance."

"Staefyn was on Teralon? How could he have gotten there?" asked Amyr, clearly not believing his brother could be guilty of any misdeed.

"He could have easily traveled with the men commanded by Darlac," Taeron suggested. Quynn remembered that the warriors of Meridon's clan dressed in black from a headdress to their boots and painted their faces black for war. The emperor's son could have easily accompanied the Calabrian troops without being recognized.

"You think my father would not have noted his absence?" demanded Amyr.

Stryfe responded. "During the incursion on Teralon, Staefyn spent weeks away from the imperial palace, presumably courting the female. And since he contacted your father regularly and no one had any reason to suspect he was not on Calabria, he would not have been missed."

Quynn did not want to believe that sweet, gentle Staefyn would do the things Taeron believed he had. That would make him a monster.

"Staefyn may have been in battle with you, my lord prince, or at the very least, he had a hand in your slavery," concluded Taeron.

"Why not just kill him?" asked Quynn in frustration. If Staefyn had done what the accused, then he was responsible for pulling her into his scheme, of destroying her happiness if not her life.

"Because the Guerani of Calabria are healers," announced Stryfe. "They can protect and heal, and while they can fight in battle, outright murder is impossible. Dax sent Calabrian imperials to do his dirty work when he was controlled by Camridaeus because even Camridaeus knew that the ancestors would reject Dax and relieve him of his powers if he commited the atrocities attributed to him with his own hands."

"So Staefyn did the only thing he could think of," concluded Taeron. "Knowing that what would happen to you in your trance would affect your body here, he sent you to the trance hoping you would die. He had no reason to suspect that you also had Guerani power and that you might be able to manipulate the trance."

"Your mated bond with Quynn must have pulled her in," suggested Stryfe. "You have no way of knowing where your body was at the time, but you were certainly on a frontier world by then, possibly very near my sister. Something drew you out of the trance or your body would have eventually died on this plane."

"A dragon," Amyr said, not looking at Quynn who could not even think straight as they spoke of Staefyn's evil intentions. "A dragon came out of nowhere. I thought it was going to kill me."

Quynn shook her head. "No! I cannot believe it! Staefyn did not do as you say! Yori cannot be my child! He cannot be ..." She looked at Amyr who did not meet her gaze. "He cannot be _his_ son!" She felt panic now, knowing that if Yori were Amyr's son, she would never be free of him.

The bracelet around her wrist began to vibrate, but she could not concentrate to communicate to the dragon, to warn Jeshed that she was not in danger.

Suddenly they could hear screams and shrieks from outside and an unearthly roar made her tremble. Taeron threw open the door and dashed out of the cottage, but he returned quickly. "The dragon is circling above."

Amyr gave Quynn an accusatory stare. "Did you call the dragon again? Do you hate me so much?"

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she rubbed them away before he saw how his words affected her. Quynn did not hate Amyr. She could never hate him. "I have to do something." She started for the door, but Amyr stopped her by seizing her arm.

"It will not hurt you, will it?"

She was surprised that he was not thinking of himself. "I can communicate with it."

He did not release her but escorted her out of the cottage and when they were outside she felt him stiffen when he saw the gigantic creature circling overhead, roaring and breathing fire.

 _Jeshed, please come down! Do not hurt anyone!_ Quynn cried out to him in her mind and she felt the bracelet vibrate before the dragon roared so loudly that even she trembled.

"Mama! Come!" Yori seemed to appear from nowhere and he seized her hand, attempting to drag her away from Amyr, but he refused to release her, even as the dragon headed straight for them, its huge body blocking out the sun.

Suddenly the sun disappeared and Quynn found herself standing in the moonlight beside a pond, Yori holding her hand and Amyr still holding her arm, but now in a tighter grip so she knew that he was alarmed by the change although she had experienced it many times. Another reason to fear was creeping towards them, its huge eyes fixed on Amyr as if he were an intruder, which he was.

"Who brought us here?" Amyr asked. He looked down at Yori. "Did you bring us here?"

Yori looked away from him to meet Quynn's gaze and the uncertain look he gave her broke her heart because she knew now that he was her own child. Believing Yori to be Malya's child, she had tried to keep Yori at an emotional distance in a small part of her heart because she knew that she would one day have to part with him. Now that small part was aching to open to him, aching to have denied the innocent child.

"Jeshed told me to bring you," Yori said. "He did not tell me to bring him!"

The dragon settled only a few paces from them and he growled, his colorless eyes trained on Amyr.

Amyr released Quynn and surprised her by stepping toward the dragon who did not move. "I am sure that you can understand me. I want you to know that you have my gratitude for saving my life."

 _Foolish Calabrian. I wasn't saving you. I was keeping you from hurting your mate any more than you had._

Amyr thought he had been dreaming, not drawn into a trance with Quynn or he might not have said the things he had.

 _You delude yourself into believing that._ Of course the dragon understood his thoughts and he wondered if Quynn and her child heard, but they showed no sign of being aware of their conversation. _For once, you told her the truth._ The huge eye blinked at him. _Is that still the truth? Tell me now so that I can spare her and her precious child further pain. I will make your death quick, but I cannot promise it will be painless._

Amyr did not know what the truth was any more. He no longer needed to prove himself to his father, nor earn the approval of the Calabrian nobility. Glancing at Quynn he saw her as a woman and not the means to an end, a woman that had attracted him from the first time he saw her. Her rejection still rankled him, but he knew the fault was his own.

 _Your admission of the truth is enough to save your life, at least for now. Ah! He comes!_

Amyr turned so see the air shimmer and it seemed to part to allow Taeron to step into the trance. "What are you doing here?"

His sword was in his hand in the blink of an eye when he saw Amyr standing so close to the gigantic creature. "I am your protector."

The blistering words to remind him of his past failure died on his lips when the dragon blew hot air from his nostrils that made Amyr wince from the blazing heat, knowing that he would have to visit the healer again. The acrid stench of burning hair stung his nostrils and he suppressed the urge to reach up to see how much had been burned off.

 _Do not denigrate the efforts of the paladin. Your protector saved your life countless times and you repaid him with scorn and betrayal. Still he would face me with a sword to protect you yet again!_

Suddenly the dragon moved past Amyr to Taeron who merely raised his head to stare straight at it. Breathing in deeply, it reared up on its hind legs to tower over Taeron who was staring intently, his sword before him, his mind probably racing to discover a weakness in the creature. The dragon opened its mouth and Amyr was sure he was about to see Taeron incinerated. But the flame that erupted from the dragon's maw and flowed over the man holding his long sword ready in both hands was a white golden light that swirled around Taeron, lifting him from the ground and enveloping him until he was no longer visible.

"Taeron!" cried Quynn. "Jeshed, what are you doing? What has Taeron ever done to you? He was only trying to protect us!"

The light gradually faded to reveal that Taeron was standing on the ground, the white golden glow still surrounding him for a moment longer before it was drawn into his body. The dragon dropped down before Taeron now and Amyr was not surprised that his imperial guard showed no fear. Whatever the magical creature was saying to Taeron was not shared with the rest before Jeshed lumbered past Amyr to Quynn who stood holding Yori against her.

She reached a hand out to him and the dragon put his snout under it so that she could stroke its diamond hard scales. When it extended its claw, both Yori and Quynn stepped on to be raised so that they could sit at the back of its head. After one warning glare directed at Amyr, the dragon leaped into the sky, a great flap of his wings creating a tempest that made Amyr fall back. By the time he regained his footing, they were high in the sky and Amyr realized that the sun was shining. He stood watching them grow smaller and his heart pounded with the fear he felt for the two beings riding upon him.

" They will be safe."

Amyr turned around to snap at Taeron to mind his own business, but he was now in the middle of several men, including Mordrad and many of the Calabrians who eyed him warily. He had slipped out of the trance or been sent out most likely by the dragon although it could have just as easily been Yori.

"You're still alive," remarked a soft voice at his side and he turned to see Carrinda looking at him with a wry twist to her lips.

Fearing what he would see, Amyr looked down at himself to find that the entire side of his tunic had been seared and burned, that his flesh was blistering. He imagined his face had not fared any better.

"You had better heal him or he will be crying like a babe with soiled wrappings," remarked the scribe. "He probably has soiled wrappings," he added with a chuckle. "I saw that dragon! The emperor will ..."

"The emperor will want me to describe it in great detail," Taeron interrupted and Amyr correctly deduced that the Teralonian women were present. Both females were standing nearby, but now the princess' sister approached them.

"What happened to you?" demanded Sharisse, hands on her hips as she turned her attention fully on Taeron. "When you touched your prince, you ceased to move as if you were turned to stone."

Since he had never seen a trance, Amyr had not known how Taeron was able to enter without being called, but his uncle Apolo had told him in great detail what had happened in the desert wastelands when Amyr's father had fought his grandfather, Dax, in his trance. He also knew that his father had entered one of the trances Shamara had shared with Dagan by touching her. Taeron must have known what to do. Was there anything Taeron did not know how to do?

When Taeron did not answer immediately, she blew out her breath in exasperation. "For a man who makes his life with words, you are frequently with nothing to say." With that, she turned on her heel and stomped away.

Amyr watched her with a smile. There was one being that could strike fear into his imperial guard. Even though she tried to walk with a man's gait, Amyr watched her hips with appreciation, her womanly curves obvious despite the shapeless garment she wore.

Suddenly he was aware of the tense silence around him and he turned to see everyone looking at him with annoyance, except Taeron who was schooling his features although Amyr thought he could sense his anger. Since it had been so long since he had been able to sense the feelings of others, he was surprised. But he could not determine what he had done to elicit the anger of the others until Princess Dijana spoke.

"If you are interested in my sister, I shall tell her to be ready to receive your attentions." She smirked. "We owe much to Calabria, so it is a small – very small – price to pay."

He opened his mouth to speak, to deny any interest, but Carrinda seized the arm that had been burned and he nearly howled with pain. "Come along, princeling. I should heal this injury before you receive another." She guided him away from the group glaring at his back. Amyr wondered if Taeron would protect him should the Calabrian warriors mount an attack, especially now that he believed Amyr wanted the thrall.

When they were far enough away and approaching her cottage, he said, "I was merely appreciating an appealing female form."

"She is vulnerable and does not trust males after what happened to her. Do not toy with her to annoy your imperial guard."

"Are you warning me because she might hurt me?" Amyr chuckled. "I have been told often enough that I could charm a Wasteland she-beast. And Taeron would protect me from her chakrams."

As she laughed, Carrinda patted his arm, her touch far from healing or pleasant against his blistered flesh. "Princeling, I doubt it was meant as a compliment."

They entered the cottage and she quickly began the incantation that healed his burned flesh before taking a shears to his hair, cropping it to an even length that was above his shoulders. She declared the tunic a regrettable loss, so she searched about and found another garment that was not as fine, but still of good quality which he guessed belonged to Mordrad. The long shirt fit better than Taeron's clothing which had been loose and Amyr mused how his imperial guard had changed in the years of their separation. He was as tall as his father now, and while he was not bulky like some warriors, he was lean and muscular, certainly more so than Amyr. Some day, when the memory was not so painful, he would ask Taeron about those years of fighting against the Varoonyans. Amyr tried not to feel resentful as he thought that Taeron's disappearance caused Calabria more grief than his own.

When she had finished tidying her cottage by removing the destroyed clothing, Carrinda came close to Amyr and she rested her hands on his shoulders as she leaned very close to him. "You are looking very handsome indeed, princeling."

He became aware of her as a woman now as her soft curves brushed against him. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Her throaty laugh made his heart beat faster. "Do I really need to try? How long has it been since you have lain in pleasure with a woman?"

"Too long," he admitted, barely finding the presence of mind to speak. Her bed was nearby and he had heard enough gossip about her to know that she would take any man that she wished to that bed and that man left after knowing an unforgettable morning, afternoon or night of pleasure.

"You are not hesitating, are you princeling?" she chided as she lowered her head so that their lips were almost touching.

Although it was nearly his undoing, he put his hands on her shoulders and put her away from him. Was this the first time in his life that he had repulsed a woman's advances? He cursed the gods for this punishment, having to refuse probably the most memorable time he would spend in a woman's arms. No, he thought with a shake of his head. The most memorable time in a woman's arms had been in a dream and he was a fool to think that time could ever be matched.

Carrinda moved away. "I think you actually love her."

"Perhaps I have been forewarned by a dragon." Amyr would not expose his feelings to this woman, not when he was unsure of them. He needed time to consider how to proceed with Quynn now that he knew the truth. She was the mother of his son, the son he would probably have as much difficulty winning as the boy's mother.

The healer laughed and went to a pot cooking over a fire. "You will find it difficult to earn her forgiveness, my lord prince." Filling a wooden bowl with a stew with an appetizing aroma, she returned to offer it to him. He detected cooked flesh in the broth, but he had been forced to eat much in his years as a slave that he never would have touched on Calabria.

As he took the bowl from her she said, "She has feelings for you which you ground beneath your royal slippers. You should know that Quynn is able to fend for herself now, even without the dragon, she has developed magic of her own. She has one vulnerability." Now she leaned forward to look into his eyes. "You hurt that child who is your son more than you have already with your careless thoughts, Guerani sorcerer, and I will dry up your man parts so that they fall off."

He swallowed nervously, glad that he had not started eating because he would have choked. Amyr had viewed Yori with hostility when he had gone to Quynn's cottage and found her mothering him. He had been angry and disgusted that she cared for the child he believed Quynn had created with another male despite her ravings about being a surrogate mother. Amyr had been considering how best to separate her from the boy so that he would never have to see him and Yori must have read his thoughts. Amyr wished he could take them back. Not because he had them about his own son, but because he had them about an innocent child. His own mother had born the first princess without the protection of the male that had fathered her child, and Taeron had not had the protection of his own sire for many years. How could he have been so insensitive to a child that had no part in how he came to be?

Amyr raised his head to meet Carrinda's gaze. "I would never harm my own son."

Carrinda patted his cheeks. "I think there may be some hope for you, princeling!"


	22. Chapter 22 Training the crown prince

**Chapter 22**

After confronting Taeron about the dragon, Sharisse avoided him throughout the day, and evening was now approaching. Since he had told the men to meet him at Mordrad's training arena, he was headed there now when he saw Amyr exit the healer's cottage further down the lane. The beautiful woman paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a smile on her lips as she watched him leave. Quynn had returned earlier with Yori and they went to her cottage without inquiring of Amyr who was, according to Calabrian tradition, her husband although the healer had broken their blood bond. Taeron had mixed feelings about his sister and his prince. Once he thought he knew what was right and what was wrong, but now he was not so sure. Between his sister and those females from Teralon, he felt as if his world had been suddenly tilted and he was frequently disoriented.

"There you are brother!" He turned his attention away from Amyr to watch Stryfe approach with his ambling gait that no one would mistake for a warrior's stride. "I was hoping you could give me some details about what transpired in that trance. The emperor would be beside himself to hear about a dragon breathing fire on you."

"Where did you hear that nonsense?" asked Taeron. He remembered stepping into the trance, even facing the dragon, but his memory was hazy about what happened after the dragon loomed over him as the harbinger of his doom. Surely if the dragon had breathed on him, he would not be standing there now.

"Yori told me. He said something about golden white light and paladins."

"What is a paladin?"

"A righteous, holy warrior," Stryfe told him.

"What is righteous about a man lying about his identity?" scoffed Amyr when he reached them. His gaze passed over Stryfe and his nose wrinkled in distaste. "You smell of inks."

"I had a lot to write about today. The emperor is going to want to know exactly how you reacted to finding out you have a son and that you grossly insulted your own child. Who are you to judge my brother? If he needs more time to get to know the woman he is marrying, then you can hardly blame him when you made such an imperial mess of your own courtship and supposed marriage."

"If he were making any attempt to know the princess, I might agree with you, scribe, but I have only seen him seducing her sister."

Taeron wanted to strike Amyr, something he felt too often. Perhaps he would soon have the chance to work out his anger and frustration during training. "Come, there is much work to do." And he was so eager to get to it he almost rubbed his fist in anticipation. Of course he would not be able to strike Amyr as he wished, but he could remember how good it felt. More behaviors of his father's people should be adopted on Calabria, especially this one. It could become as widely accepted as kissing.

He walked ahead of the prince while Stryfe fell into step beside Amyr. Taeron resented Amyr, first for ogling Sharisse as if she were one of his clinging females, then for spending the day with the healer. Bringing up either grievance would do no good because Amyr would do whatever Amyr wished to do no matter who he hurt or dishonored. Amyr had surely been feigning interest in Sharisse to anger Taeron and like a fool he had almost risen to the bait. He wasn't ready to reveal his identity, especially after Princess Dijana had offered her sister to Amyr for his amusement. At that moment he had wanted to wrap his fingers around her slender, elegant neck. How could he ever make his house with that gods' cursed female?

As for Amyr's behavior with the healer, Taeron had never heard of a bond being broken so he had no precedent with which to guide his actions. His sister did not seem heartbroken about the termination of their bond, and until he had a chance to discuss the matter with her, he had no reason to defend the honor of his father's house nor that of the emperor. Quynn and Amyr had been victim's of Staefyn's scheming although Taeron doubted Staefyn could have predicted this outcome.

Taeron had every intention of returning to Calabria with the crown prince, not just alive and bringing with him an heir, but as a worthy leader of warriors. Unfortunately, Taeron realized quickly into the training by the waning light of Norvana's sun, that the task would be difficult. When they were younger, Amyr had often slipped away from the imperial masters while Taeron worked diligently to learn all that they could teach him. As Taeron practiced over and over again the moves the masters had taught, Amyr had been either dozing from long nights spent with some female or in pursuit of another. Taeron was appalled to see that even his human brother was better trained than Amyr. After years of fighting like a butcher instead of an imperial warrior, Amyr had forgotten what little he had once learned. While the other Calabrians captured by the Varoonyans gained them a high price in the markets, Amyr had been purchased for a pittance and sent into the arena with other expendable creatures. Only the gods knew why they had spared his life for so many years.

As Taeron instructed Amyr again and again on even the most rudimentary moves, the other Calabrians watched with disgust. To Amyr's credit, he listened and for once in his life made no attempt to escape to seek the comfort of the healer's bed. He even tried with limited success to be more humble although after losing a sparring match to Stryfe, he threw down his sword in disgust which provoked gasps and shouts of outrage that the sword of the crown prince of Calabria lay in the filth of the yard.

Even Taeron was overwhelmed with emotion by what he had done and before Amyr could pick it up, Taeron snatched it, then grabbed a handful of Amyr's tunic, dragging him out of hearing of the men. He jerked him close until they were nose to nose. "Never do that again!"

"It is a sword," Amyr reminded him flippantly.

"And if you were not so selfish and dishonorable, you would realize how much you offended your own men!" Releasing him so abruptly that Amyr stumbled back, Taeron held the sword before him, trembling with the anger he felt for Amyr's irreverence. "This is the sword that has taken the life of more than one emperor to begin a new reign. This is the sword that your father wielded to subdue Zeno to end the old ways and bring in a new era of peace and prosperity." Taeron swallowed back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. "Your father gave this sword to your mother to show her how much he loved her when he dared not speak the words and it was in this sword that Dax bound your father's soul. I was honored to use this sword in your name to free the Varoonyans from their despicable overlords. If you cannot respect this sword, then why should you hold it in your hand?"

Amyr opened his mouth to speak, but he must have thought better of whatever stupid remark he was about to make because he bowed his head instead. "You are right, Taeron."

"What were you going to say?" asked Taeron furiously. "Were you going to tell me to shut my mouth and remember my place?"

The prince reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, surprising Taeron. "Are you sure that you do not have Guerani blood? That is exactly what I was going to say, but then I realized that it is I who does not know his place. Perhaps you could continue to remind me? But not with your fists?"

Had Amyr read his thoughts earlier? Although he had admitted to having Guerani powers, Taeron had seen no proof of it. Stryfe thought it might be because he was too far away from the sacred hills, that he had been cut off from the ancestors too soon after coming into his powers. "I will be unable to keep anything from you any more."

Amyr sighed and his lips flattened into a grim line. "I will apologize to the men." Taking the sword, he raised it so that the light from the single moon glinted off the blade. "I will never be able to match you because I have wasted the best years of my training, but I will endeavor not to shame you." Before Taeron could respond, Amyr went to the men to ask their forgiveness.

If the men were satisfied with Amyr's apology, Taeron did not know, but they continued on with the training after Amyr faced them with his head bowed and hands held out to them in supplication. Taeron was surprised that Amyr even knew all the forms of begging that he had shown in the last few days. Then again, he had probably been on the receiving end more than once.

When it grew later, torches were lit so that the men could see as they sparred with each other, practicing the moves that Taeron showed them. He enjoyed this work and had been called on to do so by the imperial masters. If he had not become Amyr's imperial guard, Taeron had hoped to continue teaching the young recruits sent to the imperial city to learn from the emperor's masters. Now that he was a warlord, his responsibilities would not give him time to train others.

A few of Mordrad's men had gathered to watch the Calabrians and eventually Mordrad joined them and after observing for several moments, he climbed over the fence ringing the practice field. After demonstrating a move for the men, Taeron turned to find the older man waiting with a long sword in his hand.

"Would you humor me, Lord Taeron? I have witnessed you in action and heard much of your prowess and I would be honored to have the opportunity to face you."

Although he had no reason to distrust Mordrad, Taeron sensed a motive other than curiosity behind his request. But Mordrad would pose more of a challenge than the Calabrians because Taeron knew nothing about his fighting style, so he nodded and drew his sword. There was a flurry of betting going on between Mordrad's men and the Calabrians, but he ignored them as he took a stance to face the hunter lord.

Mordrad's men seemed to have a lot of confidence in his skill, but once they started fighting, Taeron easily identified his weaknesses. The older man was slower, he dropped his guard frequently, but Taeron prolonged the fight so that he could get a workout. When he was sure that Mordrad would end the match because he knew that Taeron was giving him a chance to retain his honor, the other man must have signaled to his men because suddenly they charged at Taeron with swords in their hands. Without missing a beat, Taeron leaped into the air, and after flipping twice, he came down behind the attacking men.

The Calabrians growled with anger at Mordrad's dishonorable actions, but Taeron threw out a hand to stop them from joining the fight. Before Mordrad's men had a chance to recover, Taeron raced through them, tapping them with the flat of his sword on parts of the body that would have been mortal wounds had he been using the sharp edge of his blade. Mordrad signaled in another direction and Taeron leaped into the air again, sensing the approach of projectiles which he deflected as he twirled his sword, twisting his body in the air to avoid bolts from another direction. When he came down, he rolled in the dirt and came up with the point of his sword directly against Mordrad's chest.

The other man stared down at him incredulously. "You do not disappoint me. I doubt there is anything that can stop you."

"I can think of something," announced Amyr with a smirk, nodding his head behind Taeron who turned to see that Sharisse was approaching. She was still too far away for her to have seen what he had done, so he stood and passed his sword to Stryfe.

Throwing back his head in laughter, Mordrad put his hand on Taeron's shoulder as he walked past him. "One single female can be more daunting than an army."

"I am not frightened of the female,"he denied hotly. But when Sharisse was standing beside him, he seemed to lose all ability to speak. His heart started to beat faster than when he was fighting Mordrad's squad, and the sudden heat flooding his body made a bead of sweat roll from his forehead to drip into his eye, stinging it and making him blink rapidly.

Once his vision cleared he could see that she was frowning at him. He surely looked as foolish as he felt. "Is Lord Taeron training you?"

"Who else would undertake such a task?" Stryfe clamped his hand on Taeron's shoulder. "I have been providing the prince with some exercise as well."

She gave Amyr a dismissive look although Amyr was assessing her with the same perusal of her body that had irritated Taeron earlier. Any other female would have picked up on Amyr's interest and readily offered herself for his pleasure, but Sharisse looked at him as if he were dung on the bottom of her boot. Amyr only wanted to irritate him, and he had succeeded even though Taeron knew that he should not have proprietary feelings for Sharisse when he had already given an oath to marry her sister. That female at least had the sense not to walk about in the night without a male to protect her.

"Lady Sharisse, you should not have come to the practice field alone at this hour," scolded Mordrad who seemed to be irritated that her arrival ended any further exhibitions by Taeron.

Sharisse curled her lip. "Lord Mordrad, I go where I please when I please. I inquired at the castle of the scribe's whereabouts and was directed here."

"You have need of my scribe?" asked Amyr with a frown. "Just what would you need him for?"

"I would speak to him alone," she told Amyr, lifting her chin defiantly. As she stared at Amyr, daring to meet his gaze unwavering, Taeron studied her face. She seemed to have a little more color now which he attributed to her feeding from his blood. The soldiers on Varoonya had needed a steady supply of blood and often tried to feed upon their attackers to boost their strength so Taeron made sure that his men learned defenses to throw back the Varoonyans and to retreat quickly if injured because a Varoonyan overlord's soldier could drain a man quickly. He wondered if she needed to feed again, and his pulse began to race with eagerness. By the gods! He should not be looking forward to it, but the act gave him more pleasure than any female ever had.

"I will accompany him," Amyr finally said, snapping Taeron from dizzying thoughts of her mouth sucking blood from his body.

"I wish to have a private conversation with him," she said with a shake of her head. Taeron hoped she did not notice how her demand had affected him.

"You may not speak with the imperial scribe without me present." Taeron wondered why he was insisting on the stipulation and he was becoming annoyed that Amyr was keeping her from him.

Amyr and Sharisse stared at each other, oblivious to the avid spectators, the whispers that Taeron guessed were bets being placed on the outcome. At the moment, he wanted to bet she might cause Amyr an injury that would make him think twice about crossing her, but she finally gave a slight, regal nod, then grasped Taeron's arm to drag him away from the other men.

"Come with me," she said gruffly. "I wish to speak to you on an important matter away from prying ears." She glanced over her shoulder at Stryfe who was swiping his sword, practicing the moves that Taeron had shown him earlier. "If that is what he is teaching you, you have nothing to learn from him." She snorted. "Hero of Varoonya?"

"He is a leader of men," Taeron told her to cover for his brother's woeful appearance, then changed the subject to distract her. "Do you need to feed?"

To his disappointment she shook her head. "Not for several days. It is an infrequent annoyance."

"Where are we going?" he asked as he allowed her to drag him away from the lighted arena into a darker area near the castle.

"There is a garden this way," she told him. "I have discovered a quiet place where we may speak."

"And I have discovered that dark gardens are bad places to be," grunted Amyr from a few feet behind them.

If Amyr thought he was being amusing, Taeron turned to give him a scathing glare and hoped Amyr remembered how his fists had felt after the night his sister caught him with another woman handling the imperial assets.

"Shut up, princeling," snapped Sharisse. "You have forced me to accept your intrusion on our privacy, but I do not have to listen to you."

"I am the crown prince of Calabria," Amyr reminded her stiffly.

"Staefyn is the crown prince of Calabria," she retorted. "You are a walking corpse."

Amyr faltered in his steps and Sharisse took the opportunity to hurry Taeron away. Her brutal honesty seemed to have affected him. Amyr could hardly expect to return to Calabria and resume his life as it was. In the first place, he had to resolve his relationship with Quynn. He may not have asked for the bond between them to be broken, and yet it had which was unheard of on Calabria. Even if his detractors among the nobility could look beyond that, they certainly would not see him as blameless for the child that had been produced from a female to whom he was not bonded. Even Taeron wanted to pommel him until he was a pile of lifeless meat at his feet even though he knew the circumstances. Who would believe Staefyn had engineered that disgrace when all of Amyr's life up to that point seemed to be training for just such a catastrophe?

Sharisse came to a stop before a small pond where there was a bench and she pushed Taeron onto the bench, but she turned away and stared at the glistening dark waters for a moment as if she were working up the courage to speak. Taeron wanted to reach out to take her hand, to draw her onto the bench with him to comfort her when he could sense her anxiety, but sensed she would reject his kindness, so he waited patiently for her to speak.

Finally she turned to face him. "You are the imperial scribe as well as the brother of Lord Taeron. I want to hear your opinion of a matter that personally affects your brother as well as the future of relations between Calabria and Teralon."

"Intriguing." Amyr had caught up and was skulking in the shadows.

Taeron wondered if just thinking about how angry he was at him for belittling Sharisse would reach Amyr. He could not be sure that Amyr had read his thoughts, but he heard Amyr retreat to a more respectful distance. "He is gone," Taeron told her gently. "I would listen to what you have to say."

"He is insufferable," she snapped irritably. Since he agreed, he had nothing to add and certainly no defense. She fell silent and he had to wait several moments before she worked up the courage to speak. "I wanted to know if you might have insight into the consequences if my sister, Princess Dijana, were to reject your brother, Lord Taeron."

Reject him? Taeron should not feel so happy about being rejected. He was annoyed to realize he knew little about the agreement with Teralon except that he had been forced into a marriage he could no longer countenance. Princess Dijana was a horrible female that could give Amyr lessons on being conceited and arrogant. He could not, would not mate with that Teralonian bitch.

"I had not noticed that she did not enjoy my brother's company." Taeron did not blame Stryfe for ignoring her by preferring the company of his scrolls and inkpot that day. Given the choice, he would do the same and he could not even read or write.

Sharisse was twisting her hands together nervously. "The reasons are complicated."

Taeron thought about that for a moment and came to the only conclusion he could draw. "Does she have feelings for another man? Was she forced into the match? Because I doubt the emperor would hold her to a vow made under duress."

"She has no feelings for your brother. She would not, could not,..." She fell silent again and he knew what she meant. "How could this match be broken?" she asked him earnestly.

Before Taeron could speak, Amyr slipped out of the shadows. "You plead well for your sister," he said suspiciously. "Why is she not here speaking for herself? Has she brought this up to Lord Taeron?"

Sharisse did not respond to his questions, nor did she snap at Amyr. Her question seemed to disturb her greatly, and now, facing the undead crowned prince, she must realize that breaking the marriage vow would be very difficult. Taeron intended to ask Stryfe how angry the emperor would be should he refuse to take Princess Dijana as his wife.

Amyr did not give her a chance to speak. "Return to your sister and tell her that refusing to marry Lord Taeron would be a grave insult to the emperor. Remind her exactly to whom her people owe their gratitude for their freedom. If she has to grit her teeth and close her eyes tightly to pretend he is someone else whenever he touches her, then she should begin practicing now."

Taeron clenched his fists, wanting very much to strike him, and when Sharisse raised a hand to do as he wanted, his heart seemed to stop in his chest as he knew he must stop her from touching him. But she dropped it to her side and she raised her chin. "I remember who saved Teralon, and I know exactly when it happened because I was there, and I, more than any other, have reason to be thankful to Lord Taeron. Where were you?" Turning on her heel she stomped away.

Taeron would have followed her, to hold her in his arms to comfort her, but Amyr clamped a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down on the bench. "Let her go."

"I know what you are going to say," Taeron said before Amyr could have a chance. "I must end this farce and claim my bride."

Amyr chuckled and patted Taeron's cheek. "I have changed my mind. You do not have Guerani blood. I was going to tell you that those Teralonian females have secrets and before you bond with either of them, blood sucking not withstanding, you must discover what they are. Perhaps your brother has some insight since he has been romancing the bride."

Predictably they found Stryfe in Amyr's chambers at the castle where he was scribbling on a scroll. He did not even look up when they came in because he was so intent in his work. Amyr cleared his throat to get his attention and when that failed, he crossed the room and was about to put his hand on his shoulder when Stryfe said, "Let me finish this one sentence. It has to do with how utterly incompetent you were this evening."

"Perhaps I should spill ink over it," suggested Amyr with a mirthless smile.

Stryfe set aside the quill he had been using to scratch the symbols the emperor would read. "Try it, princeling, and the emperor's report will be embellished even more than it is."

"Why are you using ink? Are there no better ways to record events for the archives?" Amyr bent over the table on which Stryfe had spread the vellum he used to write. Taeron joined them and stood marveling the work his brother had done. Yet he had no desire to tax himself with the effort of reading it.

"I will use more conventional methods when I return, but your father likes these scrolls better, and they are considered the official account. They cannot be changed as easily as a digital copy." He raised a brow. "I doubt you came here to get a lesson on what I do. You cannot even read this. Either of you."

"You could teach me," suggested Amyr. "One day I will have to be able to read them."

"You are assuming quite a bit, princeling. First, we have to get off this planet and then we have to find our way back to Calabrian space. And once we get there, we don't know what we will find. Staefyn must have a plan or he would not have made his move by eliminating Taeron."

"Or he acted rashly, using Taeron's wedding as an excuse."

Taeron shook his head. "Staefyn suggested it to your father. He must have it planned to the last detail, so my brother is right. We do not know what may have happened."

"You have not been gone long," Amyr commented.

"Not a dozen passings of the suns," Taeron agreed. "Staefyn was on his way to Varoonya and must return to Calabria before he can take any action."

Amyr shook his head. "We have a more immediate problem. Scribe, what have you done to the princess to make her wish to reject Taeron?"

"Me?" Stryfe shrugged. "I have done nothing."

"Why have you ceased to spend time with her?" demanded Amyr without letting Taeron speak.

"Well, I thought the purpose of my spending time with her was to get to know her. And I know her well enough." Stryfe looked at Taeron. "Sorry to be the one to tell you, brother, but she is like cotton candy, sweet and fluffly with no substance and too much makes you sick."

"She must think the same of you," said Amyr with a chuckle.

Stryfe frowned. "Hey, I am a clever guy. And not lacking in the looks department either, but she doesn't seem to have any interest." He nibbled at the end of the quill in his hand for a moment and it looked as if he wanted to say something, but he shook his head. "Princess Dijana is not at all as I would have expected."

Taeron leaned towards his brother. "Are you keeping something from me? Do you know why the emperor forced such an oath from me?"

His brother met his gaze. "Would you wish for me to break my own oath?"

So Stryfe had information about Teralon that he was under oath to the emperor to keep from Taeron! Why would Trey do that to him? Had he not proven his loyalty? The emperor was like a father to him, had been the man to stand in for Lord Duo when presenting him for imperial training, had been at his side when he received his sword from Lady Arora's hands. Why was he forcing him to marry Princess Dijana?

Amyr looked between them, then he shook his head. "Something is not right on that planet."

Taeron frowned at Stryfe as he came to a realization. "You didn't just come with me to write the report of my marriage to the princess."

Stryfe shrugged. "The emperor wants more information, but I don't think we are going to get any from those two women. I don't trust the princess and her sister is messed up. Don't let them know who you are, Taeron. You might be able to get Sharisse to trust you."

"I agree," said Amyr with a nod. "When we return, you will go to Teralon and insist upon a reasonable amount of time to get to know the woman with whom you will begin your house. In the meantime, we can find out what they are hiding."

We? Was Amyr offering to help him? Had Amyr ever offered to help him with anything?

"If they refuse to let you land on Teralon as they refused when you went for your wedding, then you can return to Calabria without a bride and the emperor can decide on whatever course of action he will take against a planet that owes not just him, but you, for its freedom."

Taeron did not like using Sharisse to glean information about her people, especially when she had been used before, but he had no choice. Stryfe knew what he was talking about and if the emperor had confided in him and had gone as far as sending Stryfe as a spy, then he was concerned about the place that Teralon had in his empire, especially when his daughter and grandson were on the planet.


	23. Chapter 23 A visit in the garden

**Chapter 23**

"You remind me of your mother."

Although her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice, Quynn did not even look up from where she was kneeling in the dirt pulling weeds from the garden patch behind her cottage. She had gone out to collect herbs to dry out for cooking, but she noticed some areas of the garden that had gone neglected since Amyr had walked into her life. She wasn't going to let him distract her from her work.

"You aren't standing on my herbs, are you?" she asked, noticing his booted feet in the garden.

His chuckle made her heart flutter. Quynn hated that her body responded to him with a hitch of her breath. She had years to realize that her feelings for him had been deeper than his for her and she was finding it impossible to set them aside.

"Your mother threatened to undo my manhood should I crush any of her precious plants," he told her.

Quynn wished she had, then maybe she wouldn't be sick to her stomach thinking about the time he had spent with Carrinda. She had heard about it from both Danlaer and Keldar when she went to the spacecraft to help with the wiring, but she had not had the courage in the two days since to confront Carrinda. Quynn did not want to believe her friend would betray her, but Carrinda's morals and her own did not concur. Monogamy was unheard of on this planet, and both men and women did not restrain themselves by making promises, the kind of promises that Amyr had made to her. He would thrive on this planet.

"You are not working on the ship," Amyr observed when she did not respond to his remark.

"I worked on it early this morning,"she told him. "Danlaer and Keldar have gone into the city to see if they can find some wire at one of the salvage barges that landed yesterday." Now Quynn looked up to see that he had turned over a bucket that she had used to bring water to the garden and he was sitting on it watching her. "Does Taeron know you have escaped his training?"

He was wearing one of Taeron's embellished tunics again, of which Stryfe told Quynn with a laugh, he had far too many. Larya had been overjoyed that her precious son was marrying a princess, was a hero and warlord. Quynn had only ever known Taeron to wear the simple blue and red tunic of the imperial house, but Larya had provided him with garments of fine fabrics from beyond the frontier. Amyr was wearing a gold trimmed crimson tunic which must have been altered to fit his smaller frame. The color emphasized the dark good looks that he had from his beautiful mother, but she saw his father in his face as well, now more than when she had vowed to wed him. There was no doubt that Trey was his father. She should not have looked at him because she remembered too vividly the trance which she had thought was a dream. And in the years since the trance, she had dreamed more than once of her honeymoon with this man. Her memory of the trance warmed her at night when she curled up in her bed alone because no man could ever take Amyr's place.

Sighing, she diverted her thoughts of the trance by pushing back a stray curl and standing to face him. "What did you come here for?"

His amber eyes met her gaze when he raised his head. "Do I need a reason to visit my wife?"

Quynn wanted to deny the pleasure she felt at hearing him refer to her as his wife. "I thought that was behind us. We are no longer bonded."

"We are no longer physically bound, but the vows we spoke before our houses are no less binding."

She put her hands on her hips. "Binding until I speak to my father and tell him my feelings."

Amyr shrugged. Tell him whatever you want, but he will see the child we have made and will not listen to you. My father will insist upon our marriage and your father will not refuse him."

Quynn hated that he was right. "That doesn't mean I have to like our circumstances. You are a selfish, arrogant prick and I wish I had never laid eyes on you."

He chuckled again, and she was irritated that it sent a shiver down her spine. When he rose from the bucket, she stood her ground as he advanced into her garden until he was standing before her. "Quynn, I rue the day you crossed my path as well because every other woman pales in comparison to you." He reached up and she could not bring herself to move as his fingers brushed her forehead before taking the curl that had slipped again and tucking it behind her ear.

He moved closer and for a moment his warmth and masculine scent disoriented her, but when he lowered his head, she jerked back and stepped away, her hand itching to slap his smug, handsome face. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"I can think of nothing better at the moment." He must have realized his chance at seduction was gone, so he carefully stepped out of her garden while she nervously smoothed out her gown. She did not want to realize how there was mud on her skirt where she had been kneeling, that her fingers were stained green and there was dirt under her fingernails. She had not expected to entertain the crown prince of Calabria when Carrinda asked her to fetch some herbs.

"Perhaps you should visit Carrinda. You are well acquainted with her." Quynn wanted to bite her own tongue for her remark which could not be mistaken for anything but jealousy.

"Are you planning to harm me? I would have no other reason to visit her. And if you speak of the other day, you surely know that she healed me from the harm your dragon caused me."

Quynn sniffed. "And that took all day and the night as well? I wasn't born yesterday, princeling." She could not believe that he still thought she was naïve.

"Did you ask her what I did in her cottage all night?" His half-smile was disarming, but she refused to be moved by it.

"Ha! I don't need to ask her why a man spends the night in her cottage." She retrieved the basket of herbs she had come into the garden to get in the first place and then tried to march past him, but he reached out to catch her arm in a gentle grasp.

"I was hoping to see the boy."

"The boy?" Quynn could not bring herself to say anything more because she was outraged that he could not even call their son by his name.

Amyr was oblivious to her fury. "I thought I should learn something of him."

"Maybe you should start by learning his name!"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Just tell me where he is. I am surprised he is not clinging to your skirt as I have seen him do far too often. It is time that there is a man in his life."

She stared at him in outrage for just a moment before she said, "He does have a man in his life. He is with Taeron."

"Taeron!" The sour look on Amyr's face gratified her. "Where are they?"

Quynn shrugged, enjoying his anxiety. "I don't know where they have gone. Yori was with me this morning, clinging to my skirts, when Taeron came to check on the progress of the rewiring. He offered to take Yori into the woods to hunt rabbits for lunch – well, not really rabbits, but they look a little like rabbits."

He looked as if he would say something, but he pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking, "You say things to hurt me, and you know what hurts me most."

Unable to bear his arrogance any more, she threw the basket of herbs at his head. "You thrice damned bastard! _I_ hurt _you_? Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw you that night?" She tried not to cry, but the tears rushed to her eyes as the pain came flooding back. "I was so happy that day! I loved you and I heard you pledge to bind your life to mine. That night my head was in the clouds and my heart was so full that I did not even notice you seducing the woman waiting on us during our meal! I was the only one that did not see it!" She choked on her own humiliation now. "I was such an idiot!"

He took a step toward her, reached out a hand to touch her, but she slapped it away. "I have no words to tell you how sorry I am."

"You aren't sorry! You were not even sorry in the trance after you took advantage of me!" Quynn swiped at the tears in her eyes, hating that he saw her pain, wishing she weren't on this godsforsaken planet because she didn't feel strong facing him. She had mocked her father for his sense of honor, his strength and his bull-headed dictates, but now she wanted him to hold her in the protective circle of his strong arms. Is that what it meant to be a Calabrian female? Quynn hated it! She had been a fighter, self-assured, at the top of her class of cadets. How had she come to be this pathetic weeping female?

"You're right," Amyr admitted, his voice hard as if he realized that he could not cajole her. "Everything I told you in the trance was true. I wanted to marry you to gain my father's approval, but most of all I did it because I thought it would please your father."

"He … he was like a father to me all those years when I was a child and my father was fighting rebels to stabilize Calabria. I spent months and months with Lord Duo. When the fighting was over and he settled on the moon, I traveled frequently between there and the imperial palace. I am not an idiot. I know my father sent me because he was really sending Taeron, but I so looked forward to going. I love your father as if he were my own! You are hurt? Do you know how I felt when he came back from Mars with a new family, when he accepted Taeron as his son?"

"You poor man!" If she had a weapon she would use it on him. "You married me to permanently have place in his life!" Quynn felt so hurt that she could barely breathe. "You never wanted me! You wanted him!"

Amyr shook his head and she was outraged that he laughed. "Not want you? I wanted you when I didn't know who you were, when you threw flowers in my face. If you weren't Lord Duo's daughter and under my uncle's protection, I would have had you at the snap of my fingers before the setting of the second sun."

She gasped. "You pig! You think I am like all those other mindless females who can't resist your charm?"

"I know you are." His smug smile so infuriated her that she lunged at him with her fingers curled in to claws, fully intending to rip his handsome face to shreds, but Amyr managed to seize her wrists and her momentum threw her body against his. Before she could react, he lowered his head and caught her lips with his own. He tasted of fruit and honey that he must have had for breakfast, and his spicy masculine scent overwhelmed her senses.

His head raised a moment and she dragged in a ragged breath, but he released one of her wrists and grasped her chin with his fingers, tilting her head before touching his lips to hers again. She shivered when his fingers slid down her neck, caressing lightly before moving around and into her hair, and as his other hand still held her wrist firmly, he curled his fingers in her hair and grasped a handful which he used to tilt her head so that he could deepen the kiss.

Quynn told her body to resist his artful seduction, but it pressed against him, fitting to his hard ridges, seeking to meld them into one being. She was burning in his arms, aching with needs that had gone so long unfulfilled. Amyr had been the only man she had ever been with, and even that had been in a trance, not quite real, not on this plane. It had been like a dream, but this was real and she was powerless to resist when she badly wanted what he offered.

A discreet clearing of a throat brought reality crashing back. Before she had fully regained her senses, Amyr released her and stepped quickly away before she could retaliate which she would have with a well-placed knee. She glared at him, promising future retribution before turning to see Carrinda waiting at the other edge of the garden.

"The herbs?" she prompted when Quynn did not speak.

"Are these the herbs?" Amyr picked up the basket she had thrown at him, then walked around the garden to hand them to Carrinda. "I look forward to tasting your stew."

"I have been told that I make the best stew in the province," she said with a flirtatious smile that made Quynn grit her teeth.

"I don't remember inviting you to share our meal," snapped Quynn irritably as she ran a shaky hand through her tangled hair. She didn't want to think about how it felt to have Amyr pushing his fingers through it.

Amyr glanced at her briefly before looking back at Carrinda with a smile that would charm a Yolovian banshee. Had it worked on Ryanwin? "Perhaps another time?"

Carrinda laughed lightly. "Nonsense! Come by at the supper hour. Bring Mordrad and a bottle of wine with you."

"Perhaps you can point me in the direction where my imperial guard has taken my son. I would like to join them."

Quynn wanted to retort that he had no son, but if she did, they would argue further and arguing with him never ended well. Instead she thought about her relief when Taeron had shown up at her door. Since discovering the truth, that Yori was her son, that Amyr was his father and what had happened in the trance was just as real as if it had happened on Calabria, she felt awkward with him. Quynn did not want Amyr to take Yori away from her before she had a chance to sort out her own feelings about her son.

"Bashat is one of the trackers," Carrinda told Amyr. "He is cutting wood behind my cottage and will help you find them."

Amyr turned back to Quynn and she felt her knees go weak from the fire in his amber eyes. "I will see you later, wife." After an exaggerated bow, he sauntered away in the direction of Carrinda's cottage.

Quynn had no reply, nothing to hurl at his departing figure. She was embarrassed to have so easily succumbed to his seduction, proving that he was right when he claimed she would have been an easy conquest for him. The only thing that kept him at bay was her father, and not because he was afraid of him, but because he wanted his approval.

"Did I come at the wrong time?" asked Carrinda slyly.

Quynn glared at her. "Why were you flirting with him?" She was too angry at her own behavior to even care that she sounded like a jealous shrew.

Carrinda laughed lightly. "I wasn't flirting with him!"

Turning on her heel, she headed back to her own cottage. "I don't care what the two of you do!" She wished she believed what she said.

For the first time since she had met Carrinda, she was angry with the other woman and she was irritated that she followed her into the cottage. Quynn ignored her as she picked up the toys that Yori had left on the floor, snatching up clothing he had discarded the night before as well. She should scold him for his carelessness.

"Are you angry that he spent the night with me?" asked Carrinda, concern in her voice.

Quynn faced her and saw that her friend looked stricken. "You know how I feel after what happened with him on Calabria. How should I feel now after you take him to your bed? You are my friend!"

"We did not share our bodies," Carrinda told her with a smile. "Are you surprised? I certainly was when he rejected my offer."

"You offered?" Quynn didn't know how to react.

Her friend laughed. "Of course I did! I have healed him several times in the last few days. Do you think I am blind and oblivious to his charm? I am certain that I would have thoroughly enjoyed the night with him."

Quynn frowned at her. "Then … then what ..."

"He wanted to hear about his son. He did not think that you would tell him anything, so he asked many questions." Carrinda went to her and took her hands when Quynn realized that she was stunned. "Prince Amyr wants to take his rightful place in his son's life. You are not going to deny him, are you?"

Quynn felt the tears welling up again, and seeing her distress, Carrinda drew her close and put her arms around her. Carrinda had taken her mother's place in her life so the thought that she had lain with Amyr had hurt her deeply. She felt so disoriented now when not so very long ago she had come to terms with her life and actually felt comfortable on Norvana. Now she was back where she started that night in the garden when her world had been turned around. Except now she was a mother and she had a husband that she could not trust.

What bothered her even more was that she had not felt Jeshed's presence all day. He usually reacted to her emotions, but he remained still, even during Amyr's visit. Although they had never spoken, Quynn could sense the dragon's feelings and he had conveyed ambivalent feelings towards Amyr. Jeshed did not trust Amyr, but he did not distrust him either, and for Yori's sake, he did not burn Amyr to a pile of ash. Perhaps the dragon was respecting her privacy, but she sensed that it was something more because the bracelet around her wrist was now just an uncomfortable weight. Quynn felt like part of her was missing and she did not want this added worry on top of learning about Yori.

Carrinda was waiting for an answer. "I thought that I could help repair the ship and send him on his way, but now … "

Now she would have to return to Calabria, to face the mess she had left behind. Quynn had no way of knowing how her father would react to what had happened, but she feared that the emperor would be more than displeased. He had yet to forgive her mother for the pain she had caused his imperial guard. And if he did accept her and Yori, how would she handle her responsibilities as the wife of the crown prince? Quynn had never given any thought to what it entailed. She had returned to Calabria to be with the man, not the prince. The only thing in her mind had been waking up to Amyr every day because he was the only man who made her feel anything in his arms.

She would never forget the day when she had been left behind with Amyr while Taeron and Stryfe had gone into the village that was being raided by Camridaean fanatics. He flirted, she insulted him and before either of them realized what was happening between them, she was in his arms and they were wrestling with uncooperative Calabrian garb that kept them from their goal. If Stryfe and Taeron had not returned to fetch them when they did, Yori would have been born three years earlier. Stryfe had to keep Taeron from ripping Amyr apart despite her insistence that she was as much to blame as Amyr for their loss of control. Taeron never blamed her but treated her like a female that needed to be protected. She had resented him for it, but she should have realized that she had needed protection from the unrepentant womanizer he knew Amyr to be.

Carrinda smiled at her. "If what I saw in the garden is any indication, you should not be regretting what your future holds."

"That is all that is between us," Quynn said with a sigh.

She wondered if she even knew anything about the real Amyr. Amyr had only shown her the man that would do whatever he had to in order to keep a place in her father's life. She almost laughed at herself now as she thought of his confession. How silly she had been! He could, and did, have any woman he wanted on Calabria, so what made her think he actually wanted her? He just wanted to make himself Lord Duo's son.

Well, he had gotten what he wanted and Quynn had gotten what she deserved for being so gullible.


	24. Chapter 24 Yori's forgiveness

**Chapter 24**

He managed to walk with a steady gait although his knees were a bit weak after sharing that kiss with Quynn, but Amyr was able to keep her and the healer from realizing how much his volatile wife affected him. Since Amyr could not blame the blood bond any more, he had to accept that he craved that woman in his arms more than any other, and there had been many, many women with whom he had dallied before and after she had come into his life. Those women were faceless bodies that offered and gave him pleasure. Quynn had come to mean more, far more even than a means to an end. The realization both frightened and excited him as he imagined a future that included her.

The man to whom Carrinda had directed him was happy to leave his work behind to lead him to Taeron, and seeing the large pile of wood that he was chopping, Amyr did not blame him. There was a forest nearby to which Bashat led him, following tracks in the ground that Amyr did not see. He imagined Taeron would have the skill to see them, but Amyr had never seen a reason for the crown prince to track anything when men who were skilled at it would be at his disposal. Men like Taeron.

Amyr wanted to push back the rancor he felt towards Taeron, but the bitter cold of his jealousy was preferable to the pain he felt in his heart when he thought of all that Taeron had taken from him. Although he had never told her, Quynn had surely deduced the resentment he felt for her brother for he had seen how pleased she had been to tell him that Yori had gone with Taeron.

Taeron had always been a part of his life, living with his family, sharing the love of his parents and siblings. Taeron had only recently learned that his mother had been forced to give him up to the emperor in surety that she would remain loyal to him. Shortly after giving birth to Taeron, Larya had been appointed governor of the first moon amid whispers that she had born the emperor a bastard for which he had rewarded her. He had never believed the rumors. Amyr had always known his mother to treat the beautiful white-haired female as if they were sisters, and when Larya had placed her infant in Arora's arms, they had both been in tears.

Amyr had been old enough to remember the moment, but not old enough to realize what was happening. His father had hoped that Lord Duo would acknowledge his son and take Larya into his house, but he did not. To that end, Amyr had spent much of his childhood traveling between the moons and his father's palace as Taeron was shuttled between his parents and the imperial household.

So he and Taeron had been like brothers for as long as Amyr remembered, and when he realized that Taeron was Lord Duo's son, he had been glad that Lord Duo did not take him into his house. Taeron never spoke of his hurt, and if he had, Amyr doubted he could feel any sympathy for him when Amyr thought of Lord Duo as another father and enjoyed his favor. He did not want to share the affections of his father's imperial guard, certainly not with the bastard. Nothing Taeron had done could gain his father's approval because he was in mourning for the life he had given up and was probably ashamed of the moment of weakness with Larya that resulted in the son he did not want.

Amyr had been as amused as everyone else when Taeron had been forced to make an oath to a woman to act as her imperial guard. But as in every other facet of Taeron's charmed life, he had not only distinguished himself, he had earned his father's acknowledgment. Even worse, Amyr had lost the only brother that he felt any kinship with to his new family.

He would not let Taeron take his son from him as well.

They came upon the small hunting party in a clearing where they must have stopped to rest, and Bashat left Amyr with the group. Amyr immediately saw Yori sitting on Stryfe's lap, the latter holding a scroll out before him and pointing out symbols. As he watched his son concentrate on what his uncle told him, Amyr forgot all about Taeron to marvel at the child he and Quynn had created in a trance that had been designed to kill him. He saw Quynn in the boy's beautiful features, but he also saw himself in his dark hair and brown eyes that would gradually lighten to amber.

Sensing his gaze, Yori looked up, but when their eyes met, he looked quickly away and he must have tensed because Stryfe raised his head and his brows drew together in a frown. Amyr could not blame Yori for wanting to reject him because he doubted any child wanted to hear his father plotting to dispose of him. He deserved the pain his son gave him by refusing to acknowledge his presence now.

"Well, well, princeling, I see that you have finally risen. Your snores were loud enough to awaken a hibernating bear. In fact, you sounded like a bear growling when Taeron tried to tell you that he was leaving. Have you come here to scold him for leaving your side?"

"The thought occurred to me," he said. "Where is he?"

"Jeshed scented a brush beast, whatever that is, and they left to hunt it."

"It is a ferocious beast that is very delicious," Yori added. "Lord Mordrad serves it only at feasts because it is difficult to hunt."

Amyr looked at Yori now, emboldened that his son had spoken to him. "Taeron is on the dragon then?" He had wondered why Jeshed had not attacked when he took Quynn in his arms. Amyr had suspected that if he had tried anything more with her, the dragon would have appeared and swallowed him whole.

"Not exactly," said Stryfe with a smirk.

"Jeshed has taken his other form," Yori told Amyr. "He was going to wait until he returned to his planet, but he changed his mind and did it today."

"He has taken another form?" Amyr was about to ask what that might be when he heard two male voices in conversation approaching. Turning, he saw Taeron first, one end of a thick, long branch on his shoulder. Hanging from the branch was a dead creature twice his size with tusks as long as Taeron's sword, gutted and ready to be mounted on a spit.

Behind him, carrying the other end of the branch was a man Amyr had never seen before. He had white hair that flowed past his shoulders, and he was almost of equal size to Taeron. He heard Yori call out to Jeshed, but Amyr did not believe the man could be the dragon until he was close enough to see his colorless gaze which now seemed to have a hint of violet. He was wearing only a tunic which he must have been given by Taeron who wore only his undershirt over his leggings and boots.

There was laughter in his strange gaze when it met Amyr's. "Ah, the princeling has arrived. Did I not tell you that he would, paladin?"

"That you did," muttered Taeron, his tone betraying his annoyance and indulgence.

So how did one speak to a dragon walking in human form? Should he bow and scrape to him?

Jeshed smiled wryly at him. "I don't think you are capable of such behavior, Prince Amyr."

 _Of course you know how to read my thoughts_.

 _Your thoughts are easier to read than many._

 _Perhaps you can tell me why you have done this? Why you have taken this form?_

"Hey, it's rude to carry on a conversation with others present," spoke up Stryfe. "I can't hear you, but I would love to know what you two arrogant bastards are saying to each other. Emperor Trey would like to know as well."

"I am not an arrogant bastard," spoke up Jeshed.

"There is nothing more arrogant than a dragon." Stryfe chuckled and Yori giggled.

"Let's get this thing up to the castle," suggested Taeron. "It's not as light as it looks."

Amyr had hoped to spend some time with Yori, but his son dashed to the side of the dragon man. "Did you kill the beast?" he asked in awe.

Jeshed smiled down at him. "I would like to say that I had, but when it was bearing down on me, I tried to change back into my dragon form and failed. If it were not for the paladin, I would be dead."

And all was once again right in the world, thought Amyr with annoyance. Taeron could even best a dragon.

 _Only this time_ , amended Jeshed. _If I had been in dragon form …_

 _Dream on, dragon. If you went up against Taeron in dragon form, he would gut you like that beast._

"Are you guys talking again?" demanded Stryfe with annoyance. He had fallen into step beside his brother and Amyr realized he was walking with Jeshed and Yori. "Or thinking to each other? Can you hear me if I think to you?"

There was silence for a moment and then Amyr thought. _He is a buffoon._

Jeshed frowned at him and then said to Stryfe, "I can speak to Prince Amyr because he is a sorcerer."

"I am a sorcerer, too," spoke up Yori who glanced shyly around Jeshed to look at Amyr. "Like my father."

A man should acknowledge his son, not the other way around, but Amyr felt his heart swell with pride that he could not have imagined to hear Yori refer to him as father . "I think you are a more powerful sorcerer than your father," he told Yori with a smile.

"No argument there," said Stryfe with a chuckle. "I have yet to see proof that you have any powers."

Amyr frowned at him but he could not argue when he had lost his powers. Since coming to Norvana he had begun to sense the feelings of others, but that skill was sporadic.

"Guerani are healers and protectors," spoke up Taeron. "Not sorcerers. Prince Dagan is the only sorcerer I have ever seen."

"When fighting beside her mate, Princess Shamara can cast powerful magic," Stryfe said. "I spent many months recording the events that occurred in the trances she shared with Prince Dagan."

"Holy magic," agreed Jeshed. "The same magic that flows in Taeron's blood."

"I have no magic," muttered Taeron.

Amyr looked at Jeshed. _How does Taeron have magic? He is not Guerani._

 _You may not want to hear what I have to say, and his humility will not allow him to believe it, but the gods have favored him because of the purity of his heart._

Amyr almost refuted aloud any purity in Taeron, but before he could he was struck with understanding of what Jeshed spoke. A lesser man would have given in to dark impulses long ago, but not Taeron. Born of a notorious whore, accused of being the emperor's bastard while the man that should claim him did not, Taeron had never given in, never sulked in resentment or grown despondent with shame. He had worked with painstaking diligence to become the man he was, and now when he looked at Taeron, he could see a faint golden glow around him.

 _Glad you see things my way now._ Jeshed was smirking. _As for Quynn, you do not need to fear that I will tempt her away from you._

 _I did not even have the thought._ Well, Amyr would never admit to it, but how could he not wonder how she would react to the man the dragon had become after spending so much time with him?

Jeshed snorted aloud. _Your thoughts lie as poorly as your lips do._

 _You were saying...?_

 _I have a preordained mate._

 _Who is she?_

 _I don't know yet, but I will when I meet her._

"So why do you think you cannot change into a dragon?" asked Stryfe, interrupting their conversation.

"I do not know. I just knew it was time for me to take another form and it happened." Jeshed grinned, showing a row of white perfect teeth. "I am glad I am such a worthy specimen. I am also glad that I was not on Yolovia because I would not want to have the form of a banshee."

"Perhaps you need to return to your own planet to regain your form?" suggested Taeron.

"The dragon may not have been your true form," said Stryfe. "Quynn did say that the woman Malya, your mother, claimed to be Zayron, and they are, as I have been able to discover, shapeshifters. You may have taken the form that my sister willed upon you."

"I did enjoy being a dragon," sighed Jeshed mournfully. Yori giggled and Jeshed smiled down at him. "Perhaps one day I will regain that form and I will take you for a ride in the skies. For now, you shall have to ride upon my shoulders as you do your uncle's."

"I am tired of walking now," admitted Yori with a shy glance at Amyr.

Amyr had never carried a child on his shoulders, not even his younger siblings, but the hopeful look in his son's eyes coupled with the step Stryfe had taken toward them made him decide to do it. Had he not seen his father do it with his younger siblings? Surely he could do it too.

Unfortunately, Amyr misjudged his strength when he took his son's hand and swung him up because the momentum made him stumble back and he fell into a bush managing to roll onto his back so that Yori fell atop him rather than onto the ground. He was horrified that he might have hurt his son, but he heard Yori giggling and was chagrined to hear Stryfe howling with laughter.

"That is going in the official record, princeling!"

Amyr did not know what Stryfe found so humorous until he realized he had landed in a particularly large pile of odorous sludge. Yori scrambled quickly away from him, now openly laughing and even Taeron was smiling. Amyr was annoyed to be the cause of their entertainment, but he managed to stop himself from saying something he should not in front of Yori.

When his son took his hand to help him up, a tingling warmth spread rapidly through his body form his touch and Amyr felt as if another world had opened for him. He heard soft murmurings from somewhere inside him, and as he glanced around at the men accompanying them, he realized he could sense their feelings. Looking back at his son, his eyes fell upon the hand that clasped his, then he saw Yori smiling shyly at him. Amyr felt tears prick his eyes, not because he had been gifted with his powers through his son's touch, but because he felt Yori's acceptance. He did not deserve such a sweet child.

Blinking back the tears, Amyr pushed himself off the disgusting pile to stand, his hand still holding his son's, not wanting to ever let go.

"You are not coming with us," warned Stryfe.

"Indeed," sniffed Jeshed disdainfully. "I will not have my triumphant appearance among your people marred by your stench. They might think it is me."

 _You are a vain bastard._

 _I think I learned that by observing you these last few days._

"There is a pond nearby where we bathe," Yori said, tugging Amyr in another direction. "I wanted to go there, but Taeron said we must hunt for the meal. Then all he did was look for bugs."

Amyr looked at Taeron. "Did you, perchance, find anything worth eating?"

Taeron reached down to take a pouch from his waist which he tossed to Amyr. "I thought you might like some."

After so many years of being forced to eat the roasted flesh of beasts, his mouth was watering just thinking of what was in the pouch. He nodded to Taeron. "You have my gratitude."

"That is being recorded as well," said Stryfe with a chuckle. "I wasn't sure that you knew how to be grateful, princeling." He winked at Yori. "I will tell your mother where you are so she doesn't worry. On the other hand, maybe she will worry even more, so don't be surprised if she shows up sooner than later."

Yori perceived his uncle's words as a threat, even more than Amyr who certainly did not want the woman he had been seducing not so very long ago to see him as he was now. If she saw him covered in dung, she would never forget it.

So with the laughter of his wife's brother in his ears, he ran along with Yori through the wood until they came close to the edge where there was a small pond that was ringed with large rocks. Yori released Amyr's hand and he ran towards the pond dragging his own plain tunic over his head and casting it aside before leaping into the pool. Amyr paused in removing his own clothing because he was anxious for the boy, and when his head popped up from the water, he was relieved.

"It is still warm!" Yori shouted to him. "Carrinda heats the rocks in the morning so the water will be steaming. Mama slept late this morning and she said there was no time to bathe."

A warm bath in a pool. How long had it been? Amyr had taken such luxuries for granted on Calabria. Now he reveled in the warm water when he stepped in. He discovered that the bottom of the pond was lined with stones so it was not entirely natural. He quickly washed the offensive filth from his body, then enjoyed relaxing in the pool, finding a rock beneath the water upon which he could sit, content in the sorcery warmed waters to watch his young son swim and splash about.

Yori grew tired of his sport and swam to where Amyr relaxed. "Do you learn from my uncle Taeron at night when the moons are high?"

He was a little ashamed to admit to his own incompetence. "He is the finest of my father's warriors."

"Taeron is a warlord," Yori announced. "I heard my uncle Stryfe tell my mother that he is called the hero of Varoonya."

A warlord was a fighter who distinguished himself in service to the emperor and as a consequence was given control of an army and a governorship. Taeron had earned his honors and yet Amyr resented him even more for it. Instead of indulging Yori in his hero worship he said, "Your grandfather, the father of your mother, is also a great warlord. In the early days of my father's reign, he fought at his side against the traitors of the empire."

"Tell me about my grandfathers," Yori begged as he settled next to Amyr on the rock.

This Amyr could do without feeling any bitterness, and giving him knowledge of his heritage was something Quynn could not do. She did not know her father, had not known him for even an entire crossing of the two suns. Amyr had known Quynn's father all his life and had many stories to tell Yori who listened eagerly. Soon enough he grew hungry and suggested that they have something to eat, and like any other male child, Yori was excited at the offer of food.

Yori returned to swimming and splashing about as Amyr hauled himself out of the pond to find the pouch Taeron had given him and which he had carefully set aside. Fishing about inside, he detected several large beetles as well as smaller ones and some worms and larvae. Amyr resisted grasping an entire handful to fill his mouth, so he selected a particularly plump bug to pop in his mouth and was savoring it when Quynn dashed into the clearing panting, cheeks bright from the speed in which she must have come to save her precious child from his own father.

She drew to a stop before Amyr, her eyes wide as she took in his naked form and when she looked at his face, her lips twisted in a grimace. "Charming." Her eyes had settled on his mouth and he realized that a few of the creature's legs were hanging over his lips.

Amyr was not embarrassed although she seemed to think he should be. He scooped the legs into his mouth with his tongue, and proceeded to smile with pleasure as he crunched on its exoskeleton to be rewarded with the rich, full flavor of its insides. After so many years without Calabrian fare, he imagined now that the taste was like nothing he had ever had. He would thank Taeron again later.

Wincing, she turned away from him. "Yori, out of the pool!" Quynn waited with a cloth to dry him

The boy swam to the edge and pulled himself up with the rocks, but he managed to dodge her waiting arms and scampered to Amyr. "Can I have one?"

"No!" Quynn was horrified, but Amyr reached into the pouch and gave him one of the smaller bugs Taeron had collected. "Don't put that in your mouth!" she cried out.

But Yori ignored her and opened his mouth, and when she tried to catch the bug before he tossed it in, he was quicker. By the look on his face he thought Yori was going to vomit. Since he had probably always eaten cooked flesh, Yori would not be used to the texture, but he would soon like it.

"Bite down quickly," he advised him. He was pleased when Yori obeyed him instantly and after a moment when he thought Yori would spit out the bug, the boy chewed it and then swallowed. Amyr took another one for himself although Quynn stared at him as if he were a monster.

"Do you remember," he said between chews, "when you first tried one?"

"Those are not sand slugs prepared by the imperial kitchens," she said with disgust.

"And these are tastier by far." Amyr pulled a larvae out of the bag and offered it to her.

She slapped it from his hand and he was about to scold her, but Yori snatched up the larvae, sucked it into his mouth, then snatched the towel from his mother and scurried away laughing.

Quynn watched him go then spun to look at Amyr who had popped a few more treats in his mouth to chew on, waiting for her inevitable tirade. "I told Yori there would be no bath today! I did not have time to bring him here."

Amyr shrugged. "I had time."

She rolled her eyes. "You are here because you fell into a pile of shit." Her gaze went contemptuously to the clothing that was scattered on the rocks. "I see that you did not clean your clothing. Are you expecting me to do it?"

"Are you offering?" Amyr could have laughed at the look on her face.

"Absolutely not! Even if they were Yori's clothing I would not touch them! They will need to be burned!" She turned to leave. "And I will thank you not to encourage Yori in learning your customs."

His brows drew together and he seized her arm before she could leave. Amyr could tolerate her rebuffs because he knew that in the end, like all other females, she would be his, although he would have to tread carefully with her. But he would not allow her to dictate his relationship with his son.

"Why is that? Are you planning to keep him from me?"

She tried to yank her arm from him, but he proved that he was stronger than her and he could see that she was angered by it. "I have raised Yori. He is mine."

"Yori has not been raised. He is a child. By my estimation and discussing the events with Stryfe, he is not even past the age of four crossings of the suns. He has yet to be raised and I intend to be there for him."

Quynn raised her chin defiantly, and he was reminded again of her mother. Lady Trynity had bewitched Lord Duo and when their child looked at him like this, he was under her spell. "When I return to Calabria I will convince my father that you are unsuitable," she told him boldly. "I doubt anyone would disbelieve me."

Amyr did not want to break her spirit, but he needed to remind her into what life she had chosen to enter when she gave him her vow. "You are talking about Calabria. The only person who would ever be deemed unsuitable to raise a male is its mother." Was she so naïve that she did not realize how tenuous her position was now? The only thing worse than a bastard was the female that had born it. "My father may have instituted many changes giving females more rights than they have ever had, but no one, not even your father, would keep a male child from his father."

She fell silent and when he released her, she rubbed her arm where he had held her even though he had not tried to hurt her with his firm grip. Quynn would not be able to ever claim that he brutalized her. If anyone could make that claim, he could, considering all the items she had thrown at him. After she had fled him after giving him her oath to marry him, there was not a man or woman on Calabria who would take her side.

"Why do you persist?" he demanded, suddenly frustrated by her stubborn nature. It was what had drawn him to her in the first place, but now it was a hindrance to their future together.

Her shoulders slumped. He was reaching out to take her in his arms, but the loud sound of cracking twigs warned him that someone was approaching. Amyr was not surprised to see Taeron enter the clearing carrying both a cloth for him to dry off and a change of clothing. Quynn pushed past him and hurried away, but not before Amyr saw the tears in her eyes. He wished he did not need to be so harsh with her because now he acutely felt her pain and humiliation. Amyr wondered how Shamara had dealt with these powers for so many years without being driven mad.

"I thought you might like something to wear," remarked Taeron. "I saw Yori coming back. He seemed happy."

Amyr took the clothing from him. "You are not going to presume to tell me how to be a father, are you?"

To his surprise, Taeron chuckled. "No. Nothing frightens me more than being responsible for a child."

Amyr raised his brows. "I had thought that being responsible for a female frightened you."

"That comes in very close after," admitted Taeron. "I have never given any thought to doing either. I guess I always thought..."

Taeron did not need to finish for Amyr to know what he was thinking. He thought he would always be at his side. "You will never know how I truly felt when I learned of your death, and I hope that you never suffer that kind of pain. Part of me, the biggest part of me was gone."

Amyr felt sick to his stomach because he could sense Taeron's pain now emanating from him in waves that washed over him, nearly drowning him as Taeron remembered what happened on Teralon. He was reliving now the moment he had seen the body of the man that had taken his sword, burned beyond recognition but grasping the sword of the crown prince. Horrified by the hideously disfigured body believing it to be Amyr, Taeron had pried the sword from the hands of the charred corpse so that he could return it to Calabria. He had to break the stiff fingers grasping it and turned away to vomit, believing that he had desecrated the body of the man who had been his whole life.

"I am not as oblivious as you think," Taeron was saying, although he was now oblivious to what Amyr was feeling. "I know that you have grown to resent me, but I have ever sought the approval of others, of my father, of your father and your approval. I don't know how else to live."

Taeron was humiliated by his confession, and he was looking for Amyr's forgiveness. Who was he to absolve Taeron when he had committed far more sins against him? Amyr was ashamed to wonder if he would have felt so deeply grieved to be the one to find Taeron's body that day. At least Amyr had not sunk so low that he would use his feelings against Taeron, something he was quite sure that his formerly innocuous brother Staefyn had done. If he had engineered everything that happened, if he was the heinous man they feared, he had surely used Taeron's insecurities against him.

Finally he said, "You are not to blame for my selfishness," he said. Taeron seemed to be relieved. "But I don't know how to feel about losing you as my imperial guard when you have spent your entire life training for it."

"About that..."

Taeron did not have a chance to finish what he was going to say because Jeshed stepped from behind a tree. "Did you tell him?"

Amyr raised a brow. "Tell me what?"

"The paladin is going to train me to be your imperial guard."

Amyr looked at Taeron with a frown.

Taeron shrugged. "Can you refuse a dragon?"

Amyr chuckled. "I suppose not, that is if he is ever able to return to dragon form. Can he fight?"

"I am a fast learner," interrupted Jeshed eagerly.

"At this point I think Stryfe can best him with his pen," admitted Taeron.

Amyr grunted. "Stryfe can best anybody with his pen. I shudder to think what he is writing about me."

" _I_ shudder to think what he is writing about _me_." Taeron offered Amyr another of his tunics. "One of the castle women altered it for you. You realize that my mother is going to gut you when she discovers you took my clothing."

Amyr slipped the tunic over his head and pulled on the loose pants he tossed to him. He noticed that Jeshed was now fully dressed, also wearing Taeron's clothing but it fit him better without alterations. "Your mother is the most vicious female on Calabria. I heard that she had been directed by my grandfather's concubine, that whore Xuxa, to seduce my father when he was barely a man." Amyr chuckled as he considered the bond between his parents. "She was destined to fail."

"The gods had their plan for her," Taeron said. Taeron was a good son who had never rejected his mother despite her dubious past.

"I would like to know what plan the gods have for me," grumbled Amyr.

 _They will reveal it, all in good time._ Jeshed's words in his mind did not relieve Amyr at all. 


	25. Chapter 25 The feast

**Chapter 25**

"You should have worn something prettier. We are going to a feast, a celebration. You do remember what those are like, don't you? " Sharisse made a sound of disgust as her gaze swept over Dijana who was wearing her tunic and leggings. "How are you going to attract any male in that drab thing? Even the scribe isn't blind. With all the merriment in celebrating Prince Amyr, he may forget himself, so tonight will be your best opportunity to seduce him. You are not making this easy, sister. Do you want to marry Lord Taeron? He will kill you for what you have done, for all your lies."

Did it matter? Wondered Dijana unhappily. She did not feel like celebrating and would prefer staying in the cottage instead of accompanying her sister to the feast at the castle. Not even the promise of seeing Stryfe could cheer her although she rarely saw him in the past few days. Dijana was sure that he did not want to see her after she had asked his opinion in breaking the marriage vow with his brother, so she had avoided him by staying near the cottage. Her verbal tangle with Prince Amyr could not have endeared her to the Calabrian scribe, but she despised that spineless imperial weasel and that was another reason that she did not want to attend the feast.

Sharisse should be ashamed of herself for going to a feast honoring Prince Amyr after what had happened on Teralon. Dijana was disgusted that Lord Mordrad was honoring him even if Carrinda had told them it was because that morning Lord Taeron had killed the beast that would be served. Lord Mordrad used the Calabrian prince's presence as an excuse to celebrate. That was yet another reason that Dijana could not, would not, marry Lord Taeron. How could he be involved in any celebration for the bastard that had manipulated him and caused the deaths or enslavement of many Calabrians?

"And your hair!" Sharisse tossed back her own silky dark hair. "You should not have cut it."

She hadn't cut it, but then Sharisse knew exactly what had happened to the long golden hair that had been a source of pride to Dijana. She hadn't been allowed to grow it out, not since Kai had hacked it off after he had raped her that last day. Dijana remembered the moment as if it had happened yesterday for she would never forget it. She had been lying on the tiles of the grotto, barely alive from loss of blood, in pain and humiliated after all that the Varoonyan warlord had done to her, so when he raised his sword over her, she had been relieved that he was killing her. But he seized her hair and when she expected to feel the blade slide through the flesh of her ravaged exposed neck, he slid the sharp edge through her hair at the nape. With a twisted, ugly smile, he had raised the golden mass to his face, breathed deeply, then walked away holding it in his hand. Even if she wanted to grow it back so that she could attract a mate, her father had forbidden her. It was one of the many ways that he forced her to relive her shame.

Her sister resented that they were walking to the castle together. Sharisse had expected Lord Taeron to escort her to the feast, but he had not come for her. Of course her sister blamed her, berating her for her mannish behavior, in particular interrupting the men in their practice which she had heard about at the castle. Dijana had not made that mistake again. Although she had not seen the men doing anything more than male posturing following some fantastic feat performed by Lord Taeron shortly before her arrival, Dijana was unsettled by the brutish Calabrians, sweaty and panting from their exercises. She could believe the stories she had heard of them capturing females in the wilds of their plains which they called the Wastelands, breeding off them and keeping them as their slaves. What she could not believe was that an intelligent woman like Lady Quynn had vowed to marry one of them, the worst of the lot, their arrogant prince.

"You look dreadful. You were never pretty, but now you are positively wretched." Sharisse turned up her pert nose and moved ahead of her.

Dijana felt as wretched as she looked, but it was because she needed blood and she could not bring herself to approach Stryfe when she knew how it would affect him. Her father had forced the servants to give her blood and they had done so only because he threatened to thrash them. Dijana had felt their revulsion mingled with pleasure as she fed from them, her father standing over her, his face stony and unforgiving. He always brought women, and when she was done, he took the women away, eager to take advantage of the aroused females. Dijana cared too much about Stryfe to subject him to wanting her against his will.

Even before they reached the castle, the sounds of revelry made her want to turn around and leave, but before she could, she heard Lord Taeron hailing them and she felt the bottom fall out of her stomach to see him approach with his brother trailing behind. Just seeing him made her pulse race, not because she wanted his blood, but because she dared to believe that he felt something for her besides pity. As the two men approached, Stryfe walking behind the Calabrian warlord, Dijana could not take her eyes off him. She felt guilty for the lies she had told, and she wanted to tell him the truth, but she was afraid of losing any affection he might have for her.

"Princess, I feared that you were not going to come," Lord Taeron said after bowing to Sharisse.

Her sister smiled prettily at him although she had been cursing him as she waited for him to escort her from the cottage. She curled her arm around his and moved close to him. Was it Dijana's imagination or did Lord Taeron seem to distance himself from her? Was his smile forced? Dijana wondered if Stryfe or the prince told him about her request, and she feared how Sharisse would react when she learned that Dijana wanted to repudiate her oath to marry Lord Taeron.

For now Sharisse seemed oblivious to his reserve as she batted her long lashes at the Calabrian warlord. "I was waiting for you to escort me," she simpered with a pout that never failed to evoke a male response.

Lord Taeron proved he was a male and not immune to her charm by raising her hand and brushing the palm with his lips. "I beg your forgiveness, princess. I have been very busy training the men and after the events of the day, well, I was unable to get away. I hope that your sister has proven a worthy escort in my place."

Sharisse laughed softly, the husky sound meant to seduce. Dijana had seen her sister use this ploy on many unsuspecting males who would end up doing anything she wished, no matter how ill-advised. "How could I ever prefer her company to yours?"

Lord Taeron smiled as he looked into her limpid blue gaze. "You and I have a similar problem. I have been burdened with my taciturn brother and I assure you that I am heartily sick of his incompetent attempts to learn to use a sword. When he is not tripping over his own feet, he is pestering me for details about my excursions on Teralon and Varoonya." He was guiding her sister away, but he looked over his shoulder at his brother. "Keep the princess' sister company, brother. I presume you can handle that without hurting yourself."

If his brother meant to retort, Lord Taeron did not wait for him to speak as he walked away leaning close to Sharisse. Dijana felt embarrassed to become Stryfe's problem and she could not tell from his expressionless handsome face how he felt about having her company forced upon him.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, she was disheartened that he did not greet her before saying, "There are places for us to sit inside." He offered his arm to her awkwardly which she took with equal discomfort, and he was tense as he walked stiffly with her into the castle where men and women crowded together laughing and talking loudly leaving barely any room to walk. Dijana was sure that he would rather not be burdened by her and she tried not to feel upset, instead berating herself for daring to believe any man could care about her.

Serving women hurried past them carrying pitchers, stopping to pour wine when hailed with raised cups, avoiding the pawing hands of men who were drinking too much. Men waved to Stryfe and women brushed against him, and while he acknowledged the men with a nod, he ignored the women as he pushed his way through and passed under an arch that led to a huge hall that was now filled with benches and tables loaded down with foods. Musicians played lively music and some men and women were dancing, but many others were eating and drinking, their voices loud, their behavior unruly. At the far end of the hall she saw the roasting animal and she could not imagine any man, least of all Lord Taeron, slaying the beast that would feed the many people gathered.

She noted Lord Mordrad presiding over the chaos with his wife at his side, sitting at a table set above the others on a dias. His wife was openly flirting with another male who made no secret of his intimate knowledge of her. Nobody seemed to find it amiss although Dijana was disgusted and when she looked away from them, she caught Stryfe's glance at the table and thought he might feel the same. She had heard that humans were casual in their mating habits, the very reason that Lord Taeron's sire had not acknowledged him and that the man had sired two offspring in his own system. Apparently they were not nearly as casual as these people. Dijana had thought that the healer, Carrinda, was Lord Mordrad's mistress, but she had seen several men exit her cottage after an affectionate farewell, Prince Amyr included. She knew that Calabrian males bonded with their mates and did not seek other females. On Teralon most mates remained together although there were instances of couples that chose to part ways provided the separation was mutual. Dijana had looked forward to the day when she would be allowed to consider the courtship of a winged warrior, but even before Kai's arrival, Balak had refused to entertain any male's offer. Kai had destroyed any chance of a future with a mate.

Stryfe led her to the table where she saw the crown prince lounging with a cup in his hand. Dijana balked at approaching him. "Must we sit with him?" she found the courage to ask. She hated Prince Amyr with a passion born of the suffering she had been subjected to when Amyr had foiled the surprise attack on Teralon that would have liberated her many days sooner, giving Kai the chance to torture her one last time. As far as she was concerned, Prince Amyr had earned his fate as a slave.

Stryfe glanced at her. "I must be near to observe so that I might later record the event."

The idea of him scribbling his accounts for the empire irritated her. A man of Stryfe's build should be a warrior and not a scribe. "Do you write every detail for the emperor?" Dijana wondered if he had written an account of what she had told him.

He understood the reason for her question. "I have not recorded what you have shared with me, Sharisse. That is between you and me."

"And your foolish prince," she added with a glance at the arrogant bastard. He had spied on their private conversation and knew all there was to know about her except the truth of who she was. "I do not trust him."

She noticed now that there was a handsome young man standing behind the prince trying to look fierce, but it was obvious he had never attended a feast because his head kept swiveling about to watch the chaotic activity. "Who is that? I have not seen him before."

"You will not believe it when I tell you," muttered Stryfe. "My brother has many trials ahead if he hopes to train me, my prince and that oaf." She waited with raised brows. "I will introduce you."

He took her to the prince to whom he bowed low in such obeisance that Dijana resisted the urge to kick him to the floor. Of course he had no choice, having adopted Calabria as his home, but she refused to pander to Emperor Trey's useless heir and disliked seeing him do it now.

Prince Amyr looked at Dijana standing at Stryfe's side, meeting her disgusted gaze with his own distaste. "You have nothing finer to wear? You are, afterall, the sister of the princess."

"I am not wasting finery on a feast honoring you." The prince's arrogance was appalling. Did he think she would soon forget his incompetence on her planet? She, of all people, would never forget.

"Finery would be wasted on you anyway," he said with a disrespectful snort. She should not have been hurt by the insult, having heard it so often in her life, but having it said in front of Stryfe embarrassed her. "Is there a reason why you are subjecting me to this female, scribe?"

The man behind the prince chuckled, but the look he gave Dijana was sympathetic. Stryfe maneuvered Dijana behind Amyr to place her before the other man. "Sharisse, this is Jeshed. He has until this morning been a dragon."

"A dragon!" She remembered the dragon from a few days ago and she could not believe that this man was that dragon. "You jest!" Even though she knew that many strange and wondrous beings existed beyond the frontier, she was shocked to see the dragon in a man's form.

"The scribe would never jest," said Jeshed with a smile that warmed her and made her feel more at ease. "I think we shall have an opportunity to get to know each other better." He reached out to put his hand on her shoulder and she almost jumped back, but the touch was so soothing and she was frozen by the gaze of his pale violet eyes. She was sure that he said something, but she did not hear it and she did not see his lips move. Yet she felt so much comfort that she wanted to stay where she was, her gaze locked on his, his warm hand calming her.

"Stop pawing the thrall," ordered Amyr tersely, breaking whatever spell the dragon man had woven over her.

Jeshed removed his hand, but he nodded to her respectfully before turning his divided attention back to the prince and the feast. Stryfe moved her further down the table, past Lord Taeron and her sister who did not even glance her way.

"I am sorry that my prince is an ass," Stryfe said with a sigh. "I can tell you that it is the only skill he has mastered and he has worked very hard at maintaining it."

Dijana caught herself smiling. Could she really be feeling better? She decided that she would seek out Jeshed in the future to ask him about his people. And she would not be honest with herself if she did not admit that she would ask him to use his calming touch on her again. In that brief moment, she felt as if a small part of her pain was gone, that he had healed something deep inside her.

Although she got little benefit from eating food, she could still enjoy doing so. She accepted a cup of wine and noted that Stryfe had refused it and she realized that the prince was not getting drunk as the rest of the men and women were. When Princess Chaela had come to Teralon she had tried to ban the raucous feasts at the palace because she did not drink and found the behavior deplorable, but she found out soon enough how little sway the emperor's daughter had on Teralon. Avar tried to get her to drink the nectar brewed from honey that was served at the royal table, but she refused on the grounds that fermented drinks of any kind had a disastrous effect on Calabrians. Even though her father was only part Calabrian, she suffered the ill-effects all the same. Lord Taeron, Dijana noted, was drinking liberally so Dijana concluded that he had more of his father's blood than his mother's.

Lady Quynn arrived with her son and the healer Carrinda who took a place beside Lord Mordrad at the head table. The man's wife greeted Carrinda warmly and Dijana noted that the two women seemed to be close friends although they shared the man sitting between them. Lady Quynn was clearly displeased to be seated near the prince while her son sat on the man's lap. She ignored not only him, but the man Jeshed who tried to engage her in conversation. The only thing that interested her was her cup of wine which she drained almost as quickly as it could be filled.

"Your sister seems unhappy," she remarked with a glance at Stryfe. Although there were many savory foods served including the roasted meat of the creature that Lord Taeron had killed that morning and which Dijana found particularly delicious, Stryfe's plate had only fruits and nuts as well as some cooked roots while he ignored the serving women offering the meat and breads. That was, she noted with interest, another Calabrian habit which he had adopted in common with the prince who was also sneaking something from a pouch. Lord Taeron had been offered a meaty bone from the creature he had killed and was now biting into it with gusto. Dijana wondered what kind of man turned his back on his people's customs with the ease that Lord Taeron had.

"My sister has learned today what it means to be a Calabrian woman," Stryfe told her, drawing her attention back to him.

"I understood that women had more rights under Emperor Trey's rule." The right to walk in public in daylight without being raped was more right than they had prior to his reign.

"They do," he agreed, "but some things will never change. A male child belongs to the sire."

"We have the same custom on Teralon,"she told him. "But on Teralon females are valued more than males." As it should be, she thought with annoyance seeing the males at the feast treating women as if they were there for their pleasure and not to give their lives meaning with the offspring they would give them to ensure the future of their race.

"The males have not done a good job of protecting them. Many females, including yourself, suffered greatly in the Varoonyan occupation after the males fled."

Dijana could not defend the males of her planet. Even before the invasion they had become lax in their duty to protect the females. Avar should never have gone to the imperial court, never would have had he followed custom and chosen female offspring of one of the council members, but since her mother left the court abdicating her rule to her mate, there was no longer any precedent. The result was a land invaded by ruthless creatures from another world and women left unprotected while males cowered in mountain caves.

"They do not have a strong leader," Stryfe mused aloud. "I met with Queen Neria's consort when I was on Teralon. For a man who owed much to the empire, Balak was rather bold. He struck me as a man who uses cunning instead of strength."

"Strength does not always prevail," she commented. Kai had used cunning to manipulate her.

"It did on Teralon," he reminded her. He seemed to regret what he had said because he leaned closer to her. "I am sorry, Sharisse. I did not mean to hurt you with my words."

She did not realize she was crying until he reached up to brush away tears from her cheek with the backs of his fingers. His touch startled her, and her breath caught when his fingers trailed down her neck. "Do you … do you need...?" His deep violet gaze met hers and she knew what he meant. Her insides churned with shame and yet her pulse quickened as she held his gaze, felt his fingers on the back of her neck. But she could not bring herself to respond.

He seemed to understand and rose to his feet. Sliding his fingers to her elbow, he raised her, and she barely heard Prince Amyr demand to know where they were going, a demand to which Stryfe did not respond. There was deafening noise all around, drunken laughter, coarse shouts and Dijana remembered why she hated feasts, always had. Her father held many to invite the strongest warriors in the land and she had at first thought that her father was gathering them for her to choose among them, but any male that tried to approach her had been dismissed. Between her father and her brother, she had been sheltered until Kai had come with Prince Staefyn.

Stryfe led her away from the noise in the great hall and mounted the steps leading to the second floor. "We can go to my brother's room."

Dijana thought she should protest, but the promise of an infusion of his blood coupled with the excitement of being alone with Stryfe was too good to refuse. He seemed to dislike the feast as much as she did, so he quickly put distance between them and the revelers who thinned as they climbed the steps. The wine she drank must have been stronger than she thought because she had not been this reckless since Kai had pulled her into dark shadows and with his flattery made her believe she was desirable.

The room to which he led her was dark but for the glow from the fireplace. Clothing was tossed haphazardly over chairs and on the bed, and he released her to remove the pile of fine garments adorned with beautiful stitching, carelessly tossing the lot over an already overburdened chair.

"The prince could not decide which of my brother's tunics to wear."

Dijana heard the note of annoyance in his voice but she could not respond because the anticipation of tasting him was scrambling her thoughts. He sat on the edge of the bed and drew her down beside him. She was acutely aware that their thighs were touching and the warmth of his body seeped into her own. Now the heat rushing through her had nothing to do with the impending feeding.

"I noticed that you did not look well, Sharisse. I am sorry that I have been preoccupied with my training. You could have come to me."

His deep voice soothed her and she trusted him more than she should. A mere scribe was not for her, and yet she could not imagine sharing what she had already shared with him with any other man. "I … I did not wish to burden you." Dijana did not tell him that she was ashamed of her need.

He reached out to take her hand, clasping it in his big, callused hand. How did a scribe get such callouses? What did he write with? Of course she knew he could handle a sword, and he had been training recently with Lord Taeron, but the callouses on his hands did not seem recent.

"I understand," he said softly and she knew that he did. "What do you wish me to do?"

On Teralon Balak had cut the wrists of the shrieking females brought to Dijana, but Dijana only told Taeron that they had cut their wrists, leaving out the detail of how they had struggled. Kai had often fed from her neck, sinking in his sharp teeth like a rabid dog, forcing her to listen to him suck noisily and more than once he had taken blood from her thigh after he had defiled her. When he left there were bite wounds all over her body as if he was trying to mark her. The wounds had healed and left no scars but she knew that another Varoonyan would still be able to see the marks he had used to claim her, his other thralls would know her to be one of them.

Stryfe left her side for a moment and returned with a dagger that had an ornate hilt set with jewels. "My brother's," he told her when he saw her questioning gaze. "Our father gave it to him after he returned from Mars."

When Dijana had been informed of the treaty with the emperor that had as a stipulation her marriage to Lord Taeron, she had learned all that she could about the warlord. On his father's trip to Mars he had discovered his human offspring and came to accept his Calabrian son thanks to human woman he had brought back to the empire as his mate. Upon returning to Calabria he publicly claimed his son, giving Taeron the dagger he had himself received from the emperor upon making him his imperial guard.

Now Stryfe put the dagger to his wrist, but he paused before making a cut and raised his head to look at her. "I need to do something before we do this."

Before she cold guess his intention, he lowered his head and his lips touched hers. She was shocked that he would want to kiss her before whatever drug that flowed in her body reacted with his blood to make him need her.

His kiss was tentative at first, but when she yielded to him with a sigh of pleasure, he dropped the dagger to the floor and took her head to cradle in his hands. She could scarcely remember to breathe as his lips caressed hers, and when his tongue flicked against her lower lip, she readily opened her mouth to meet it with her own. Kai had seduced her just as artfully when she had been young and eager to believe the handsome Varoonyan desired her. She was wary now, but she did not sense any deception in Stryfe and gave herself up to the pleasure of his kiss.

She lifted her hands to his wrists, but she did not pull his hands away from her. Instead, she slid them up his strong arms and around his neck, drawing closer until she was pressed against his chest. She wanted to meld to him, to become part of him.

A growl came from his throat and he suddenly pushed back from her. "We must not,"he told her, his voice husky. "I will not dishonor you. I should not have kissed you again."

She raised her eyes to his. "I have already been dishonored." More dishonored than he could ever imagine at the hands of the Varoonyan warlord.

He smiled sadly at her. "You have honor in my eyes, Sharisse."

Her eyes watered, but she did not respond as he retrieved the dagger he had discarded earlier. She watched as he made a cut in his wrist without flinching, then he laid back and drew her against him and as he held her with one arm around her, he raised his wrist to her mouth.

With an anguished sob, she closed her lips around the wound he had made and she drew his blood into her mouth. Her body came alive at the taste of him and she felt at first as if she were burning, but after several moments, the burn subsided to an ache of need that she had never felt before as she fed. Not even Kai had made her feel this.

His restless movements against her told Dijana that he felt it too. "By the gods!" His hoarse exclamation eased the embarrassment she felt in drawing from his blood like some creature. When she finished, he was all but writhing, but when she stretched against him and tried to slide her hand down his body, he grasped her wrist to keep her from assuaging the need she had given him.

He brought her hand up to his chest where he held it against his heart, and when she began to cry, knowing that he believed she was unworthy even of a scribe, he gathered her close. As she sobbed against him, Dijana realized that no one had ever held her like this, and yet her heart was broken because she knew that he would never want more from her. In his eyes, she was a creature that he pitied.


	26. Chapter 26 Trouble with females

**Chapter 26**

The sun had just risen when Taeron decided that he must leave the bed and the warm woman who had been sleeping soundly in his arms, her head on his shoulder, her warm breath caressing his neck. When he gently moved away from her, she did not awaken as she turned away and curled into a ball beneath the soft blanket. He crushed the urge to return to her side. He had obligations and in his selfishness, he had neglected them all, not the least Amyr and his sister. So now after washing with water in a basin, he tossed about tunics until he found a green one that was not quite the color of Sharisse's eyes but would suit her. Leaving the room, he caught a bleary-eyed serving woman in the hallway and asked her to take the tunic to the seamstress to alter for a woman. She had giggled when he showed her the size with his hands, but when she tried to flirt with him, he ignored her and continued on his way to Amyr's room.

He wondered if Stryfe had escorted the princess back to the cottage she shared with Sharisse and if Princess Dijana had even noticed that her sister had disappeared during the feast. Stryfe had not disturbed them and since he had seen his brother drinking copious amounts of wine, Taeron caught himself hoping he had dishonored the princess. If he had, that would solve one problem but then he would be obligated to regain his honor by retaliating against his own brother. Stryfe wasn't that unwise, and while he might have fooled Princess Dijana into believing he was devoted to her, his brother had not been eager to have to entertain the princess.

As for Amyr, he was in his large bed, but he wasn't alone. Taeron was used to seeing him with a woman or two, but what he saw this morning made his brows raise. The prince was sound asleep, his snores putting a canyon beast to shame, his arm around a small form cuddled against him. Taeron mused that it did not take Amyr long to charm his son, but then Amyr had plenty of experience charming people and Taeron knew better than anyone how important a father's love and approval meant. Yori had not even been raised a Calabrian and yet he was drawn to his father after spending his entire short life knowing only his mother's love.

The boy's mother was draped half on the bed and half off, fully dressed, stinking of stale wine and snoring loudly. Taeron didn't know how Yori could sleep through the noise both his parents were making, but he noted that Yori was not the only one oblivious. Jeshed was sprawled out across the room on the mat on which Taeron would usually rest attentive to any danger to his prince. Taeron crossed to where the strange man lay and nudged him with the toe of his boot, but Jeshed did not stir and Taeron suppressed the urge to laugh. The dragon man would make an awful guard for the crown prince.

Leaving behind the unusual domestic scene, he made a tour of the castle, looking for potential trouble. He stepped over many men and women in various stages of undress which was not unexpected given the nature of the feast. Taeron was looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"You are up early."

He turned to see Lord Mordrad fully dressed and not weary from the revelry that had lasted the better part of the night. Was this out of the ordinary? Taeron had been distracted by Sharisse the evening before or he might have wondered why the hunter lord was not drinking as heavily as many men and women had.

"Are you going somewhere?" he asked curiously since Lord Mordrad looked dressed to travel.

"I received a request for help on Ergas, a planet a few days travel from Norvana. From time to time the people are troubled by a rather nasty beast and I am not loathe to take their credits to cull the population. The pelts of the monster bring a high price at the market on Ergas, so I cannot pass up the opportunity." Mordrad sighed mournfully. "I will miss the dragon, but I knew that I was one day going to have to part with him when he decided it was time to seek his own people. The men and I will find hunting a little more difficult without Jeshed's help. Let Quynn know where we have gone and that we regret her absence."

Taeron realized he was frowning as he watched him walk away. He had been taught to trust his instincts and his instincts told him now that Mordrad's behavior was as suspicious as it was ordinary. There did not seem to be any reason to distrust him and yet he did. Later he would question Quynn about the man, but for now he must accept his explanation.

By the time he was ready to return to his room and the woman in his bed, the sun was shining brightly through the windows. Stryfe was waiting outside his room with a pretty serving woman who was holding an armful of folded garments including the tunic that had been altered. Since she had guessed who the garment was for, she had added a feminine silky undershirt, suggesting with a smile that his female might appreciate it. The garment was soft and thin, and Taeron could not help wondering what it would feel like against her warm skin.

"I suppose I can't have my bed yet?" inquired Stryfe with a raised brow, drawing his attention from thoughts he should not be having.

Taeron matched the brow. " _Your_ bed?"

Stryfe chuckled. "Well, it was worth a try. Is Sharisse in there? I escorted Princess Dijana back to her cottage last night, but I couldn't tell if she was happy or angry that her sister slipped away with you. You didn't …?"

Taeron's answer was a frown at his brother for even asking. Was he asking so that he could add the detail to his expansive tale about the misadventures of the crown prince and the warlord of Varoonya?

As for Sharisse, Taeron did not know where he found the will to resist her, when she was taking his blood, and then later as she wept in his arms before falling into an exhausted sleep. In the past few days when he had not seen her, Taeron had decided that he must not encourage the fragile female. The oath that he had made to the emperor was binding and he had no choice but to take Princess Dijana as his wife despite his revulsion to the task. The emperor demanded it and Taeron would do almost anything for Trey. He had been determined to distance himself from Sharisse, was sure that he could view her as he did his sister, but when they had been sitting side by side on the bed, he could not resist kissing her as he would never kiss his sister. The gods only knew how he had been able to refrain from doing more, especially when she made it clear that she was willing. His heart still ached from the grief he had caused her by his rejection of what she offered.

Stryfe chuckled. "Sorry your night was so unpleasant, brother, when mine was so delightful after I returned to the castle."

Taeron glanced at the serving woman who moved closer to Stryfe after handing the clothing to him. His brother had probably fully enjoyed the accommodating female and planned to do it again. The customs of Calabria were too ingrained in Taeron to even envy his brother his careless lifestyle. If he were to enjoy Sharisse, it would only be as her bonded mate. Gods! Why was he thinking such thoughts when he was supposed to be distancing himself from her?

"I think I will sleep a little longer." The night had been long, and he wanted to return to Sharisse's side to hold her in his arms so that she was not alone when she awoke. "Our sister seems to have drunk herself into a stupor."

Stryfe snorted. "You don't want to be around when she gets up. Her hangovers were legendary at the academy. Where is she?"

"With Prince Amyr."

Stryfe blew out his breath. "Then you _really_ don't want to be around. She will probably sleep a few more hours. Amyr and Yori were awake late also, so I don't think you will be missed." He laughed and clamped his hand on his shoulder. "I don't think I have ever seen you look so exhausted even though you don't sleep around Amyr."

His brother's allusion to his night with Sharisse annoyed him, but he managed to smile at him. "I hope you were too busy observing the prince's behavior at the feast to take note of what I was doing." He had not dishonored anyone last night, but Stryfe did not know that and he obviously thought Taeron had done more with Sharisse than he had.

Stryfe shrugged. "I was drinking a bit too much as well, so I don't have much recollection of what you were doing or who you might have been with. And Amyr's actions are my priority now, not yours." Taeron was too good a judge of men to believe that. The emperor would probably hear all the sordid details since Stryfe did not forget anything. When Stryfe reported to Trey, they sounded like two old women gossiping which was what made him invaluable to the emperor who claimed the scribe's reports were the only entainment to be had on Calabria.

He slipped back into the room and found that Sharisse had not moved from the position he left her in so he laid aside the clothing, pulled off his boots and tunic and rejoined her. Taeron had never slept with a female before although he was not inexperienced in many sorts of activities that ensured mutual pleasure without stepping over the line reserved for a bonded mate. Amyr's women made sure of that and he sometimes wondered if Amyr put them up to seducing him. Whatever the reason, between their tutelage and his mother's unsolicited advice, he knew how to please a woman. Doing so with this woman would be a mistake, no matter how much he wanted it.

Sharisse's clothing was rumpled and stained from tears like his own, and remembering how miserable she had been, he wanted to hold her again, so he drew her gently into his arms. He had thought her lean, but he hadn't realized she was so thin. He could feel the outline of her delicate bones through the rough fabric of her tunic and he wondered if her affliction was to blame. Thinking about what had been done to her, how she had been treated, Taeron felt anguish every bit as deep as what she had felt last night. He knew that her feelings for him were deeper than they should be and he bore the guilt when he had known all along that there could be nothing between them.

Suddenly she stirred and he sighed contentedly as she burrowed against him, but she remained in his arms for only a moment before she came to her senses and she put her hands against his chest and shoved, pushing him away as she scrambled out of the bed and he eased out of the bed on the opposite side. By the time she found her balance, the bed was between them and he saw that her hands were shaking as she pushed her fingers through her cropped hair.

Sighing with regret that he would be denied any more time holding her, Taeron retrieved the pile of clothing the maid had given him and went around the bed to hold them out to Sharisse. She stared at the altered tunic for a moment but she did not take it from him.

He frowned at the gift he continued to hold out to her. "I had the garment altered to your size so that you could wear it. My brother will not miss it."

She raised her eyes to his and he felt her shame and embarrassment. "I do not want anything from Lord Taeron. Save it for Prince Amyr."

Taeron was disappointed to see the return of the wall she used to keep people at a distance, but he should have expected it. He had hurt her and would do so again when she learned his true identity. He should tell her now, but he could not think of any words that would make it less painful for her to learn that the man she had grown to trust was bound to marry her sister.

Instead he said, "I will walk with you."

"I don't need you to accompany me! I am not helpless!"

She tried to go past him, but Taeron grasped her hand and brought her to him. He wanted to comfort her, to find some way to ease her past the embarrassment from revealing her sorrow to him. "I _want_ to accompany you."

Sharisse looked at his hand and then glared up at him. "Why? You need not concern yourself with me. When I need you again, I will not hesitate to come to you since you have kindly offered to help me. I don't need anything from you but your blood."

Taeron did not know what caused her sudden enmity and he could only watch speechlessly as she stomped to the door, jerked it open and left. He heard an indistinct grunt from the hall and seconds later Stryfe walked in rubbing his lower back.

"She stepped on me." his brother complained. "I am used to such behavior as the scribe, but as Lord Taeron? Surely she should have more respect for the hero of Varoonya."

Taeron sank down on the side of the bed. "I do not understand females."

Before Stryfe could respond there was angry shouting from across the hall and Taeron leaped to his feet, not knowing if he should save Amyr or his sister from whatever had infuriated Quynn, but his sister was awake now and probably not happy to find out where she had spent the night.

The door opened and Yori hurried in, his eyes wide. "My mother is angry at my father."

Stryfe held out his hand and the boy hurried to take it. "Don't worry. Your mother is grumpy because she is feeling a little sick." He helped Yori onto the bed. "You can stay here with me until she feels better."

"She won't hurt Papa, will she?" Yori's eyes were glistening with tears.

Taeron thought there was a possibility she might, given his sister's volatile temper, and since she could fling fireballs as easily as boots at Amyr, he said, "I will be sure that she does not. Try to go back to sleep and I will calm her." As if anyone could sleep with Quynn screaming blistering insults at the crown prince that would have her incarcerated and punished on Calabria. Not that Amyr did not deserve to be called every name she used. Taeron hoped he did not get burned by her magic when he intervened.

Having no choice but to shelve any thoughts about Sharisse, Taeron crossed the hall to Amyr's room where he found Jeshed cowering in the corner as Quynn threw whatever she could get her hands on at Amyr. Taeron was proud of how Amyr managed to dodge everything quickly, proof that the training was improving his fighting skills. Behind him, a pile of boots and broken pottery was growing aganst the wall.

"Why are you not doing your duty?" demanded Amyr when he noticed Taeron. "Stop her!"

With a sigh he crossed to catch Quynn before she could launch a stone pitcher at Amyr's head, and seizing her wrist, he jerked the pitcher from her hand. He bent and hefted her over his shoulder, ignoring the fists she pounded on his back as he turned to face Amyr. "I will return her to her cottage where she can sleep off her excess. Shall I escort your son as well?" He would not have asked the question on Calabria because Yori belonged with Amyr, but he was not sure how Amyr was proceeding with Quynn.

Quynn twisted around to look at Amyr. "Don't you dare keep my son here!"

Amyr's eyes narrowed at her. "I have done nothing to deserve your anger."

"You are a prick! How dare you bring me here!"

"I did not bring you here. I told Jeshed to escort you back to your cottage when you became quarrelsome at my offer to take you back."

Taeron glanced at Jeshed who had straightened although the damage to his dignity had already been done. The fool dragon did not know how to interact with humans, certainly not with females although Taeron was wondering if anyone could predict a female's reaction to anything, even something so innocuous as the offer of a change of clothing.

"She became unruly," explained Jeshed sheepishly, "so I had little choice, my lord, but to bring her here. She insisted on walking, refusing any help, and then she fell unconscious in the lane before we reached the castle. When I lifted her, I realized she is heavier than she looks, and since I did not think I could carry her back to her cottage, I saw little reason not to bring her here and let her sleep on the bed." He glanced at the mat on the floor, his face scrunched in bemusement. "Should I have taken her to the mat with me?"

"No!"snapped Amyr irritably at the same time as Quynn, leaving Taeron's interjection unnecessary.

"I am not leaving Yori with him!" shouted Quynn furiously.

Taeron ignored her and strode from the room after a nod to Amyr. Somehow he would make his sister understand what was best for her son. She struggled to no avail and while her movements were as erratic as a hill river eel, Taeron kept her pinned on his shoulder, but he was forced to hear curses heaped on Amyr, on Jeshed, on him and especially on all males of Calabria. By the time they reached the cottage, she had run out of things to say and he expected her to attack him once he had put her down inside, but she burst into tears and threw herself against him.

"What am I going to do?" she wailed piteously. "He is taking Yori away from me!"

Taeron was perplexed. "Prince Amyr is not taking your child. Males have not taken their offspring from females almost as long as they stopped leaving their females in the Wastelands."

She weakly pounded against his chest. "Oh Taeron! Why must you be so Calabrian!?"

He wondered if that was meant to be an insult. He decided not to ponder it. Since his time as Princess Shamara's imperial guard, he had come to realize that females were quite irrational and this morning he had ample proof. What had he done to offend Sharisse? Her parting words had been hurtful.

"I have just realized that Yori is truly my child."

Taeron had never awakened with a woman in his arms and feeling her pressed against him had seemed right. Why had she been offended by his gift? He had wanted to give her something pretty to wear, to bring out the beauty he saw when he looked at her.

"I want time to see him as my son, not as some child left for me to nurture."

Was he really nothing more to her than a means to satisfy her need for blood?

"How can I ever trust that bastard?"

"Should I ask her why she is angry with me?" he heard himself asking aloud.

"Are you listening to me?" demanded Quynn and he saw that she was frowning up at him.

Taeron met her gaze. "I heard what you said, but none of it makes any sense to me. I told you that you should have waited before your impetuous vow to Prince Amyr."

"That again!? Are you forever going to use 'I told you so'? I think I have learned my lesson well enough, thanks to you."

Her accusation stung, but she wasn't saying anything he hadn't told himself many times since the night of her oath ceremony. But given the inadvertent blood bond caused by the rose Amyr had given her, Taeron knew now that Amyr would have gone to Quynn that night, and after what he had witnessed in the hall, she would have welcomed him to her bed. That would have led to great dishonor for his father's house, shame to the emperor for what his son had done and possible insurrection on the moon because the chieftains on Ulfynaeus had made very clear that they opposed the match between the female of their governor's house and the worthless crown prince. They would not have borne his dishonoring her before the ceremony on the surface. Taeron could not even predict how his father would have reacted, or how would when they returned. The circumstances were even worse now with Yori visible proof. Would Amyr's actions with Quynn cause a rift between the emperor and his powerful imperial guard? Had Staefyn planned it that way?

"You all, including my own twin brother, have made it very clear that I cannot take back the worst mistake of my life."

There was nothing Taeron could do now to prevent Staefyn from sowing discord in the Calabrian Empire, just as Staefyn planned when he sent his shuttle hurtling into frontier space. Was his own father still loyal to the emperor whose son had driven his daughter away, the man who sent his sons to the edge of the frontier from which they had not returned? Taeron did not want to imagine the two men he saw as fathers clashing over their disappearance.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Quynn who had sat down to pout with her head in her hands. "You did not spend enough time on Calabria to learn about our ways."

"I did not think they were so backward!"

"Your mother has adjusted," he reminded her.

"She has a _human_ husband."

"Our father may not have Calabrian blood, but he has adopted our way of living. Do you doubt that?" When she did not answer, he knew she was considering the many ways their father had proven that fact. It was a matter of contention between Quynn and Lord Duo that he was high-handed in all the ways that mattered to a Calabrian male protecting the honor of his house. She had been on her own for too long and it was time that she learned her place. But Taeron had no intention of speaking that last thought aloud, not if he wanted to leave the cottage without blistering burns.

"You must defer to Amyr regarding Yori," he told her instead. She could hardly argue.

"I will not!"

He ignored her. "You will allow them time together ..."

"You are siding with him!"

"... and when they have bonded as father and son, Yori will come back to you." Taeron smiled at her although she was furious. "Am I not proof enough to you how much a Calabrian male loves and reveres his mother? Have you never seen the love that Amyr has for gracious Lady Arora? But we must have the guidance of a male."

She opened her mouth to speak and then he saw understanding in her eyes, large purple blue eyes that filled with tears. "I am so sorry, Taeron! I forget how difficult it must have been for you!"

Quynn would never know exactly how difficult. Without his sire's acceptance, Taeron had grown up feeling as though part of him was missing, just as it had been for Yori. But neither he nor Yori were without a father's love now and he would not allow his sister to take from her child what Taeron had yearned for all his life. Yori would not have to grow up listening to mockery, hearing the whispers behind his back, the speculations of who his sire was when no man had claimed him. What was worse, he suffered hearing the denigrating remarks about his mother. If Quynn did not accept Amyr with Yori, her son might suffer the same, especially after her rash decision to flee Calabria. Taeron did not need to point that out to her because he could feel that she was wavering in her steadfast rejection of Amyr.

"What of Jeshed?" asked Quynn. "Even he seems enamored of Amyr."

Taeron shook his head. "Jeshed wants to find a place in this world. He wishes to remain near you because he is fond of you and especially of Yori, so he has asked to take my place in protecting Amyr." Jeshed was many years from making that dream a reality, but since Lord Duo had managed to complete the training as an adult, perhaps Jeshed would be able to do so as long as he had the same determination.

Quynn blew out her breath in a long sigh. "I am overreacting, and I have a hellish hangover that puts to shame any weekend bender at the academy." She grimaced as she ran a hand through her tangled hair. "I need to bathe and rest, and then I should work on the ship. Yesterday Danlaer told me that they found parts he believes are compatible with the ones we need to get the ship off the ground. I realized that I would have to go back to Calabria and face the consequences of my actions, so I suppose I drank a little too much so that I could forget about all my problems."

'A little too much' was a gross understatement and Taeron chuckled. "The prospect of spending your life as Amyr's mate is that distasteful?"

"No, the prospect of facing my father after what happened is."

"Our father loves you very much. He will understand that what happened was not your doing." Taeron thought that was true of Lord Duo, but he could not predict how the emperor would react. Despite all the changes he had made to make the lives of females more bearable on Calabria, Emperor Trey still had archaic notions of what entailed dishonor. He might blame Quynn for what had happened just as easily as he blamed Amyr. Indeed, Trey had been furious by Quynn's flight and did not want to hear her name mentioned when she was responsible for his son's shame, so her reappearance with his son's child in her arms would probably anger him even more.

"And what of you, brother? You have made an oath to take Princess Dijana as your wife and yet I cannot stand the thought of an honorable man like you pledging to spend the rest of your life with that awful woman. And what are you going to do about Sharisse?"

Taeron wanted to keep his thoughts from straying to Sharisse, not when he wanted to go to her now. He had intended to tell her the truth, but he did not want to lose her yet. His inaction had made his predicament worse because after last night, his feelings had become even deeper for her. Taeron felt as if he were standing at the edge of a precipice, leaning forward on his toes over an abyss.

"Did I hear you say that Sharisse was angry with you?"

"I have little experience with Teralonian females," he told her. "And my experiences with other females are limited to those that I can call sister. Princess Shamara was always very sure of herself, as was Princess Chaela." He looked at Quynn. "As you are, sister."

She smiled sadly at him. "I am not so sure of myself now." Rising, she crossed the cottage and took a folded cloth which she returned to give him. "I need more sleep. Come with me and I will heat the pond so that you can bathe and relax."

A long soak in heated water might clear his thoughts, so Taeron followed her out and they headed towards the small clearing in the woods nearby. "Have you spoken to Jeshed?" he asked.

Quynn's chin drooped and he could sense her shame. "I could not. He is not how I imagined him in the years that he was trapped in the bracelet." She held up her wrist to look at the bangle that used to glow but which was now dormant with no color in the stones. "I once thought that I had magic because of Jeshed, but Carrinda told me that everyone has an inclination to magic and with proper training can learn to use it, some more easily than others. I have an affinity to fire." She smiled self-deprecatingly and then looked at him. "You have the rarest magic, brother."

"I have no magic." Taeron refused to believe anything but his hard work and determination was responsible for his skill.

"Your magic is different," she told him. "Carrinda could not even describe it, saying that it is just part of your being, not something that you use, but something that is sensed by others. Why do you think Amyr is so jealous of you?" They were nearing the pond and he was going to respond to her question, but she put up her hand to stop him from speaking. He heard faint sounds indicating that the pool was already being used.

"Wait here," she whispered. "The pond is fed by an underground stream from the mountain. I cannot believe anyone could bathe in water that cold. " She crept forward and peered through the thick foliage of the bushes surrounding the stream, then stepped back to him. "It is Sharisse."

He frowned. "I should leave her to her privacy."

Quynn grabbed his arm before he could leave. "I will warm the water and you can talk to her or whatever it is you Calabrians do with women."

"It is not like that with her!" He was angry that she had categorized his feelings for Sharisse with the females on Calabria that were eager to sport with males.

Quynn raked his rumpled appearance with her knowing gaze. "You smell like that female, so I know you spent the night with her. I am not that obtuse. I trained with men in the colonies and have been around them after the kind of night you had."

Taeron was affronted after he had done no more than comfort Sharisse. "You never seemed to recognize it in Amyr," he retorted. "I cannot count the times he left females in his bed to court you."

She gasped in outrage and he inwardly cringed at the trouble he had just caused Amyr. What did it matter? She already knew what kind of rutting dog he was and he should not have hurt her by revealing what she did not need to know. "You let him?" She looked as though she wanted to say more, but she sighed instead. "This arguing is not helping. We have already determined there is no way back and only a way forward. I am sorry, Taeron, if I have offended you or Sharisse. And I realize that Amyr's private moments were not yours to share with others. What kind of imperial guard would that make you?"

"A good imperial guard but a terrible brother," he conceded.

"Go talk to Sharisse. I will have some clean clothing brought down from the castle for you." She turned and squatting, she put her hand to the ground and whispered a few words that he guessed was some sort of incantation. Soon after he saw steam rising from beyond the bushes and he took that as his cue so he nodded his thanks to Quynn after taking the drying cloth from her.

Sharisse was in the middle of the pond with her back to him, tendrils of steam rising around her as she hunched over with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. He first noticed that she was too thin, just as he had suspected when he held her and he wondered if Balak maltreated her after what had happened with Kai. Taeron was infuriated when he thought of Princess Dijana's curvaceous form proving that she had not spent a moment of want or need. How could he pledge his life to a woman who would allow this to happen to her own sister?

As his eyes took in her frail form they came to rest on her slender back and he was shocked to see mass of scarred flesh that indicated some horrendous trauma that had surely threatened her life.

He must have made some sound of sympathy or horror because Sharisse suddenly turned and she gasped when she saw him standing at the edge of the pool. She sunk low so that the water came up to her chin. Her hair was wet and plastered back and as he looked at her he realized no woman could be more beautiful as she was in his eyes. What her poorly cropped hair hid was a finely boned face, large eyes with long, thick lashes under arched brows. There was only a faint resemblance to her sister for which Taeron was thankful when he had grown to despise the Teralonian princess.

She was glaring at him although her eyes were puffy and red. "Why have you disturbed my private moments? I have no need of you now."

Taeron wanted to comfort her, but doing so the night before had made her brittle, and now she was putting more distance between them. He should talk to her, but he doubted he could think of any words that would ease the ache she was feeling, the ache of his rejection of her. She thought he did not want her when she was the only woman he did. He could not envision a future with her sister as Sharisse stood in the shadows.

The decision he made now would ensure that he would never have to experience that future. He did not even close his eyes as he took the step forward to plunge into the precipice where only shame and dishonor awaited.

" _I_ have need of _you_ , Sharisse."

As he pulled off his tunic and undershirt, he heard her gasp and when he looked at her, he saw that she was staring wide-eyed at his bare chest. But then she rose from the water, revealing her body to the waist and he found it difficult to breathe as she moved toward him. His fingers fumbled with the fastenings to his leggings, but Sharisse reached him and as she took over for him, he stood helplessly with his hands at his side. He should stop her, stop himself, but he could not. He must tell her his true identity, and he meant to until they stood bare before each other and she slipped her arms around him, pressing her body to his.

Taeron did not hesitate to take her in his arms, and he didn't ask if she was sure she knew what she was asking of him when he lowered his head to taste her lips. The kiss they shared inflamed him into doing what he knew he must not. He lowered her to the mossy bank beside the steaming pond where he let his instincts guide him with the woman he loved. She cried out in pleasure when he gave himself to her completely by sinking his teeth into a sensitive place between her neck and shoulder when they were joined, and when he tasted her blood in his mouth, he did not care about oaths and responsibilities. His only responsibility from this moment forward was to this woman.

When the intense aftermath of their mating had subsided, he rolled to hold her in his arms and he saw the mark he had made with his teeth. It would heal in time, but he would always know it was there. He belonged to her. No other woman would ever come between them because only she could assuage his need and his need for her was growing by the moment.

She raised her head to smile up at him. "You have adopted the ways of your father's people better than Lord Taeron who was raised among them." She reached out to touch the slightly swollen mark. "I know this does not have the same significance to you as it would to a Calabrian, but you have honored me."

Taeron wanted to tell her the truth then, but he thought he should speak to the woman he had just wronged first and he could not predict how Princess Dijana would react. His father would be angry that Taeron had defiled his house with his dishonor, and the emperor would be more than displeased that he had betrayed him in the worst way by breaking an unbreakable oath. Somehow he doubted exchanging the bastard sister of Princess Dijana would be acceptable to any of the parties involved in the treaty. Until he sorted out the mess he had just made of his life, he could not tell Sharisse the truth. His consolation was that she needed him as much as he would now need her and they were free to indulge in whatever they wished. She was his mate now.

"I need to get back to my sister," she told him, lifting away and returning to the pond where she quickly washed herself. She smiled shyly at him and his heart belonged completely to her. Taeron could not love Sharisse any more than he did at that moment. "Can we meet tonight?"

"Every night," he assured her. He wanted her again now, but he might frighten her with his need, so he slipped into the pond to wash with her hoping the water would cool his ardor. He did not know how often he would have to mate with her before his body's urges would subside, but he remembered that men in training often abandoned Edgeland Fortress for weeks after marriage because they would have been useless.

"Can we meet here again?" she asked him. "I do not want my sister knowing."

Taeron agreed although knew he would have absolutely no way of hiding what he had done from Amyr for long since his Guerani powers were growing. He could go to Carrinda to remove the blood bond, but he did not want to do it.

He wanted to be Sharisse's mate, no matter the consequences.


	27. Chapter 27 Amyr's empathy

**Chapter 27**

"Where is your brother again?" Amyr paced impatiently, swiping at the air with his sword while Stryfe was bent over a parchment as he instructed Yori and Jeshed in reading the symbols of his writing.

The other Calabrian men were sparring with each other but not with the intensity that Taeron demanded, or _used_ to demand up until the night of the feast. Since that night several days ago, Taeron was often absent from the castle or from training and when he was there, his mind was elsewhere. Amyr had heard the gossip among the females about what Taeron had been up to with that repulsive woman from Teralon and he could not believe that once he had satisfied his most basic urges he would have any further interest in her. He hoped that all his imperial guard was doing with the wretched female was offering his blood. The few times Amyr had seen her since that night she had been looking better so he guessed that Taeron was responsible for her healthy glow.

Stryfe did not look up from the parchment. "Don't worry about Taeron. We all know he can take care of himself."

"I am not worried about him! He is neglecting my training!" Amyr swiped his sword in the air again.

The other man chuckled. "I see this is about you and not him."

Before Amyr could think of a scathing retort, Yori wriggled off the log on which he sat near his mother's brother and he came to pluck at Amyr's sleeve. "We can train."

Amyr glanced about to see if anyone had heard his innocent remark. He was embarrassed enough to be training with Taeron, but if anyone knew that Yori was secretly teaching him to use his Guerani powers, he would never live long enough to hear the end of it.

Sighing, he went down on one knee before his son and he brushed back his dark hair before caressing his cheek. If anyone would have told him a month ago that he would feel the love he felt now for a small child he would have laughed in their face.

 _I love you too, papa._

Amyr smiled at him and leaned down to touch his forehead to Yori's. _We will continue tomorrow,_ he assured him. _I treasure our moments together._

They spent many hours together in trances when they pretended to be resting during the hot afternoons. Mordrad had taken a large number of his men to a nearby planet and the remainder kept busy with their day to day activities, and with the Calabrians working on the ship with Quynn, Amyr was free to do as he pleased. So no one was surprised that he chose to spend his time lounging lazily in his sumptuous bed. The only one who might complain was preoccupied.

Which brought Amyr's thoughts back to his imperial guard's uncharacteristic behavior. _Do you know where Taeron is?_ he asked Yori.

Yori shook his head. _I saw him this morning when he left behind the food, but he has not returned._

Thinking of the pouch that Taeron had left behind for Amyr and Yori to enjoy, Amyr realized that Taeron must be spending a lot of time in the woods. Since the cottages in which the females resided were on the edge of those woods, Amyr concluded that Taeron must be staying with his sister instead of returning to the castle so that he could be near that dreary bird woman. Princess Dijana could often be found during the day with Lady Saranda, Mordrad's wife, so that left Sharisse on her own. What was Taeron doing with her?

His patience had worn thin. "I am going to find him."

"I should accompany you," stated Jeshed solemnly and Amyr rolled his eyes. The last thing he needed was the useless dragon man tagging along. Taeron was derelict in his duty after relegating his safety to this fool who did not even have the strength to lift a woman to carry. His first mistake that night had been to intervene when Amyr had wanted to take Quynn back to her cottage. She had been right to be wary of his motives since Amyr had planned to take advantage of her lack of inhibitions. In retrospect, Jeshed had saved him from making a terrible mistake because she would not have forgiven him for his shameful behavior.

"Where are you going?" asked Stryfe, setting aside the parchment.

"He is with that female, so I am going to her cottage to drag him out of her bed." Amyr didn't understand why Taeron continued to cavort with her. She was not even beautiful. How many comely females had he directed towards his imperial guard to distract him and none of them had remained longer than the time it took to pleasure him. Sharisse was nothing compared to them, no matter how pretty she was starting to look, especially wearing the green tunic Taeron had given her from his collection.

"Can I visit my mother?" asked Yori, his eyes wide with hope.

Amyr had not forbidden Yori from visiting Quynn, had in fact sent a few messages requesting her to come to the castle to see their son, but she had sent one of the men to tell him that she was busy with the ship. If he had not heard that she spent her days from sun up to sun down tangled in the innards of the derelict craft, he would accuse her of abandoning Yori. Stryfe assured him that the absence of her son hurt but that Taeron, of all people, had convinced her that Amyr's bonding with Yori was too important for her to interfere.

Although he suspected that he would end the night arguing with Taeron, Amyr did not refuse Yori and the four set off for the small row of cottages where Mordrad's workers, including his mercenaries, made their homes. No one spoke as Amyr stomped directly to the cottage where the princess and her sister chose to stay, refusing the hospitality of Lord Mordrad for what reason Amyr could not fathom. Since Princess Dijana spent all her time at the castle, Amyr guessed that her manipulative bastard sister kept her in the shabby cottage they stayed in despite the princess' insistence that they wanted their privacy. That cottage was dark now. The princess was at the castle and Sharisse was probably with Taeron. But where?

He saw the faint light from the direction of the pond before Jeshed pointed it out. Knowing there would now be a confrontation that he did not want Yori to witness, he ordered Stryfe to take him to visit his mother.

Jeshed followed until Amyr turned and the dragon man ran into him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"My duty?" Jeshed blinked stupidly.

"Your duty is to go back and watch over my family. I will deal with my imperial guard." He turned to leave him, but Jeshed reached out to put a hand on his arm. The sensation from his touch spread out over Amyr in waves of calming magic that a Guerani even of his limited skill could recognize.

"Trust in the will of the gods."

"The … the will..." Amyr was outraged. "The will of the gods? Are you their messenger now?" He shook off Jeshed's hand. "Leave me! I will deal with Taeron."

With a sorrowful shake of his head, Jeshed turned on his heel and headed back in the direction of Quynn's cottage. Amyr watched to make sure he did not turn back and then he continued on his way to the pond. His heart was pounding and his throat was tight, and Amyr had a sick feeling in his gut even before he crept to the bushes shielding the pond from others. At first he did not see them in the light from the torches placed around the steaming pond, but then he heard a soft moan that drew his attention to the mossy bank on the far side. There he saw two pale bodies entwined, moving in a rhythm that he could not mistake for anything other than what it was.

The Teralonian whore was beneath Taeron, rising to him and Taeron was oblivious to anything but the female beneath him. Amyr could not tear his eyes off them, could not believe what he was seeing. And they were obviously well practiced with what they were doing because they seamlessly shifted positions until she was riding him. That was when he saw the wound on her shoulder near her neck and Amyr stumbled back, leaving behind the erotic scene at the pool that only served to sicken him.

He staggered away, putting as much distance as he could between him and the pond, his thoughts jumbled and incoherent until he ran straight into a thick tree and he turned with his back to it, sliding to his backside to the ground.

"Taeron," he groaned as he reached up to grasp handfuls of his hair. "What have you done? How could you?" He was shocked by the intense feelings that overcame him now in realizing the disaster that Taeron had brought upon himself.

Taeron had broken his vow to marry Princess Dijana, completely and irrevocably. Amyr never would have believed him capable of such a thing, had believed him in control of whatever it was that drew him to that repellent female. Despite Stryfe's assurance that she was not capable, Amyr wanted to believe that she had enthralled him as Kai had done her, and yet that would be admitting that Taeron was vulnerable Amyr knew he was not. Taeron had been seduced into dishonoring not only himself, but his father's house and the emperor. Amyr knew his father would be unforgiving. Taeron's father would be unforgiving. Taeron had no future in the empire if he were not made to pay for this betrayal of the emperor's trust with his life.

And that was what Amyr could not bear now despite his past with Taeron. As children he had been annoyed to be charged with him and Staefyn, disgusted that he had to suffer the bastard's presence. And after what had happened with Quynn, he had hated Taeron enough to try to kill him, but now with the very real threat of losing him, Amyr realized how much Taeron truly meant to him. Taeron had tried to make him better than he was, had stood at his back, slept at his feet, saved his life again and again and received nothing but scorn for his efforts. His own Guerani powers made Amyr realize what he never would have without them. He loved Taeron more than he ever had his own brother, and now he was heartsick to realize that he could do nothing to prevent Taeron from destroying himself.

How had that woman gotten past his defenses? Taeron had behaved like a primitive in claiming her, biting her to mark her like some Wasteland savage. He was an imperial guard! He was the Lord of Varoonya, liberator of Teralon! He wasn't one of those filthy tribesmen who lived the old ways and had settled on Lord Duo's moon. Taeron had grown up in the emperor's civilized palace and he knew better. No one forced him to do that to her, no one had tricked him with a thorny bloom. Taeron should have stood before the court with his bride and taken her blood in the marriage cup as Amyr would do with Quynn.

The memory of how he had been tricked by Staefyn into bonding with Quynn made him think of her now. She must have known what Taeron had done. The torches by the pond were not made with real fire, but with fire magic, and the pond was heated with the same magic. Who but that duplicitous sorceress could have done such a thing? The thought that she had a hand in Taeron's disgrace infuriated him beyond reason.

Wiping tears from his face with his sleeve, he stood, and seeking out the light from the cursed pond, he oriented himself in the dark and headed in the general direction of Quynn's cottage. Soon enough he saw the light from her windows in the distance and as he strode toward it, he delighted in fantasies of putting his hands around her neck and shaking her till her teeth rattled. Then he would take what he wanted from her and she would thank him for not beating her to within an inch of her life for what she had encouraged his imperial guard and brother of his heart to do.

But the moment he swung open the door and saw Yori sitting on her lap taking a beetle from her slender hand, the violent rage that had filled him melted away. He could never hurt her. She was the mother of his son and he loved her.

Quynn turned to look at him and by her raised brows and the challenge in her dark eyes, she knew what he had found.

"How … how could you do such a thing to your own brother?" he demanded, his voice raw with emotion.

Stryfe blinked and looked between them. "What are you talking about?"

"You didn't tell him?" Quynn looked away guiltily and Amyr looked at Stryfe. "Taeron has mated and bonded with that disgusting thrall from Teralon."

"What!?" Stryfe at least could feel the proper level of horror at such a thing. "By the gods! He cannot have done that! You must be mistaken!" Stryfe sounded even more horrified than Amyr felt.

"I am not mistaken. I saw his mark on her. He has taken her blood and is bonded to her."

"No!" Stryfe put his hand to his head, shaking it as if that could change the facts. "No! No!"

"What is the matter?" Quynn shrugged. "They are happy together. I don't think I have ever seen Taeron this happy."

"I have!" shouted Amyr furiously. "You weren't there when he received his imperial sword! You weren't there when your father claimed him and gave him his personal dagger! But you have destroyed all that with your meddling!"

"Taeron loves her," she said, still unaffected by his anger. "I only gave him a little push in the right direction and he did the rest."

"Taeron doesn't have the luxury of loving her," Stryfe told her, his voice uncharacteristically hard. "The treaty with Teralon hinges on his marriage with Princess Dijana. It was the one stipulation that Queen Neria would not back down on. The emperor himself accepted the pact with the queen, and he would not have pledged Taeron if it were not of vital importance to the empire and to Teralon."

Amyr's heart was thumping painfully in his chest, the fear for Taeron more real than it was before. "How ...how important..?"

"He will never forgive Taeron," Stryfe told him.

"Maybe Taeron and Sharisse can stay here," suggested Quynn, not sounding as certain as she had been a moment ago. "Another Calabrian can marry Princess Dijana. Maybe even you, Amyr."

"Me!?" He was so outraged he could not even speak to tell her how ridiculous her suggestion was.

Stryfe filled the void. "Don't be stupid, Quynn! You are his wife whether you want to admit it or not." He nodded to Yori who was watching the adults argue with confusion. Amyr imagined that all the emotions in the room were disorienting his young son. "You have a child together. This isn't our culture, Quynn. If you reject Amyr..."

"I have every right to reject him!" she said angrily.

Jeshed, who had been quiet through the argument stood. "Yori, I will take you up to the castle. It is getting late."

Well, at least his new imperial guard was good for something. He made an adequate nursemaid for his son. They did not speak again until Yori and Jeshed were a reasonable distance away, and then Quynn burst into her angry tirade.

"You never wanted me as a man wants a woman! You were sleeping with whores even when you were courting me! Just how many times did you leave women in your bed to take me for a walk in the garden? And were they still there when you left me respectfully in my father's care without even so much as a kiss on the cheek?"

That bastard Taeron! At least he waited this long to tell her, but then he should not have opened his oath breaking mouth at all! "Do you think I ever slept alone? Ever since my coming of age ceremony, in fact that very night I had a female in my bed. She was a bit older than me, but so very experienced in the way of pleasure between men and women. She taught me quite a bit."

Quynn made a sound of outrage.

"I did not know that," commented Stryfe and Amyr regretted admitting such a thing in front of the scribe. His father would find out, if he had not, in fact, sent the woman to him although he thought it more likely that Apolo had done it. But if Stryfe did not know about it, then neither did his father. As he considered it now, that sort of thing was not done in the imperial household. His mother would not have tolerated it, had in fact dismissed so many young women from employ at the palace for having known him intimately that he soon noted that many of the females working at the palace were old and unattractive.

"Regardless of what I did before..."

"Or what you will do in the future ..."

"Stop!" Stryfe put up his hand. "I am going to leave so that I am not forced to tell the emperor what you two discuss. But before I go, I want to tell my sister that if she persists in the ridiculous notion that she is not your wife, she will find herself without a family." He turned to Quynn. "Our father will turn his back on you."

"Mama will not …"

Her brother cut her off. "She will turn her back on you as well! She tried to get you to see reason, but you ignored her like you ignored everyone else."

She clenched her fists at her side and she glared at Stryfe. "You knew what he was doing behind my back too, didn't you? And our mother? And father? Everyone knew but me! You all let this happen!"

Stryfe's shoulders slumped and he sighed deeply. "You would not have believed us, Quynn. Your judgement was clouded by love." He headed to the door, but he stopped and he did not turn around when he said, "I love you, sis, but you are wrong now. The dishonor of Taeron's broken oath coupled with yours will destroy our father and the place he has made in the empire. I will stand with them against you if you reject Amyr."

With that, he left the cottage and Amyr felt his pain. Along with his own tumult at Taeron's disgrace, Amyr found the addition of Stryfe's sorrow hard to bear. He wondered again how his sister could stand this, how his mother and uncle had spent so many years exposed to so many deep feelings of the people around them and not been driven mad.

"Leave me," snapped Quynn, turning away from him and now he could feel her emotion, the sadness, the resignation that she would be forced to spend the rest of her life with him. Guilt washed over him for all that he had done to make her feel that being with him was the worst future she could imagine.

She turned to look at him and he saw that her eyes were watery. "I only wanted Taeron to have the happiness that I can never have."

There was nothing he could say to ease her sorrow, nothing he could do but leave. The trail to the castle was hard to follow. Although the light from the moon was bright enough, tears filled his eyes and fell as fast as he could wipe them away. He refused to cry for a lost love, and yet he did, cursing the Guerani magic that had forced him to feel her pain and humiliation. He wobbled and stumbled, falling flat on his face in the road when his foot bumped a stone. He lay there on his back weeping with the sorrow he felt, his own, Stryfe's and especially Quynn's. His misery knew no depth and grew with each moment that he lay there overwhelmed by his own powers. His life had been so much easier without the empathy forced on him by the ancestors.

"Have you been drinking wine?" A booted foot nudged him and he turned to see Taeron standing over him. His dearest friend, the brother of his heart, was smiling down on him as if he was befuddled with fermented fruit. The whore was not with him, but his hair was wet and it looked as though his clothing had been hastily donned.

When Amyr did not respond, Taeron commented, "You are filthy. What have you been up to? Were you training? I was on my way..."

"Do I look like I have been training?" he snapped, his voice catching on a sob that he gulped back. Taeron's happiness was an unbearable intrusion on his heartache. "I was waiting for you! Who else would train me? Stryfe? Danlaer? God's forbid, Jeshed?"

"I am sorry. I have been distracted."

"Distracted?" Amyr dragged himself to his feet and he wished he could tower over Taeron, but while he was taller than most men, he was still half a head shorter than his imperial guard. His runny nose did nothing to improve his indignant pose. "Is that what you call it?" He wiped his nose with his sleeve and mused briefly that he had ruined another tunic, that it was stained and torn beyond repair. The oathbreaker did not deserve to have such a devoted mother!

Taeron opened his mouth to speak, but Amyr did not want to hear him lie. That would be too much for him to bear.

"I came looking for you! I saw you with her! I saw what you were doing!"

Taeron blinked in surprise. "I ... I ..." He couldn't speak. What could he say that would explain how that female had managed to manipulate him?

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" he shouted at him. "You have destroyed your life because of that worthless whore!"

Taeron leaped at him and Amyr was unprepared for the blow that knocked him silly. Taeron hit him again before Amyr's self-preservation kicked in, knowing that he had gone too far in grossly insulting the man's mate. He ducked Taeron's next blow and threw his arms around his waist, using the strength he had gained from his years in the arena to grapple Taeron to the ground. Amyr could not hope to keep him pinned for long, but he prayed it could be long enough to say what he had to.

"Forgive me, Taeron! Gods above, forgive me for my wicked tongue!"

Taeron flopped weakly back, going slack in Amyr's hold. "I love her."

The anguish in his voice, the anguish in his heart nearly undid Amyr again. He hugged Taeron to him, and for several moments they did not speak. Then Amyr pushed himself away and sat back on the ground and Taeron pulled himself up to sit facing him.

"I don't know what to do," Taeron admitted.

"Carrinda ..."

"I could not do that. I love her. I want her. I could never be with another woman."

"You feel that way now, but it is the blood bond that is making you feel this way." Amyr knew it was a lie the moment the words left his mouth. Carrinda had broken his bond and he still wanted Quynn.

"And before?" asked Taeron. "I knew the moment I first saw her board my ship in Teralonian space."

Amyr managed a smile although he felt tears watering his eyes again. "Like I knew when your sister threw those flowers in my face. She hates me now and I love her."

Taeron reached out and grasped his hands. He, of all people, knew how intrusive Amyr's touch had become so he was asking him to read his feelings. The love Taeron felt for Sharisse was pure and deep. There had never been another for him and there never would be another.

"I will make my father understand," Amyr told him earnestly.

Taeron chuckled. "When have you ever been able to persuade your father of anything?"

"I have changed."

"You will have to prove that to him and to the entirety of Calabria." Taeron squeezed his hands. "You will have to prove it to the woman you love."

They stood together and Amyr said, "Let's celebrate your bond. I think Stryfe can find us a bottle of wine." He saw Taeron's reluctance. "I have it on good authority that it can soften the sharp need of the bond. I have heard Lord Duo comment that my father was often stoned and it was the only thing that got him through the separation with my mother, although I am not sure what he meant."

Taeron smiled. "I do. But since we don't have any weed, I suppose a bottle of wine will suffice."

Amyr knew that one cup would enough for them. At least for the night they could set their worries aside.


	28. Chapter 28 Escape from Norvana

**Chapter 28**

Quynn found it impossible to sleep after Amyr left, so after pacing her cottage for what seemed like hours, she decided not to waste the night worrying about herself and about Taeron, so she headed to the ship. Light was not an issue for her. With a snap of her fingers she could create a ball of light to hover above her. As she sorted through the wires, she tried not to think of Taeron and what he had done. She wasn't stupid. She knew the ramifications, but she had convinced herself that those oft-mentioned gods knew what they were doing in regards to her Calabrian brother. She certainly had no intention of invoking any deities, not when she had thought there was something mystical about Jeshed. He turned out to be just a shape changer from another world.

Thinking of Amyr gave her a headache as well as a heartache so she did not spare him a single thought. She wished Carrinda were there so that she could go to her cottage and tell her what had happened, but Carrinda left with Mordrad on his trip to Ergas. That call for help perplexed Quynn because they had recently been on that planet and alleviated the problem. Mordrad had been paid very well for it, as he usually was. The man would do anything for credits. Perhaps Taeron had misunderstood him, but the likelihood of Taeron getting his facts wrong was about as likely as Stryfe forgetting any detail in his reports to the emperor.

Finished with the wiring, she crawled out of the panel in time to see Mordrad's ship landing. As she headed towards the instrument panel to test what she had done, she noticed Carrinda leaving the vessel and heading towards the cottages with several men. Even that was a bit much for her to handle, so Quynn came to the conclusion that they had been hurt and she would treat them there. Her fingers ran over the smooth panel, touching the sequence that would start the craft, but it remained dead. Frowning, she crawled back into the wiring panel and stared at the work she had done and concluded that one of the wires must be bad. Blowing out her breath, she began pulling them until she found one that was frayed. After splicing it, she rewired the panel and crawled back out.

Hearing a muffled noise that sounded like someone was in pain, Quynn moved to look out one of the portside windows of the craft and she was surprised to see two of the men returning with the Teralonian women, heading towards the craft where she saw Mordrad waiting. Princess Dijana walked between the men and Quynn saw from the green tunic Taeron had given Sharisse, that she was thrown over the shoulder of one of the men, her hands tied, a cloth thrust in her mouth. Because she was dangling limply, Quynn realized that she was unconscious. She started towards the door to demand what was going on, but hearing Mordrad's voice stopped her.

"Did Quynn hear you?"

"She is gone." Carrinda laughed. "I think she might actually be reaping the benefits of being that Calabrian's wife."

Mordrad snorted. "I doubt that. She probably got a good look at Jeshed and decided to ride the dragon's new form. Either way, we will have to think of a good excuse for the disappearance of the women."

"We don't need an excuse." Quynn had never heard Carrinda's voice with this hard edge and she was shocked by how they were talking about her. "The representative from Teralon was willing to pay whatever you asked to get them back. It's not as if you were selling them on the slave market. You are simply returning them home as Princess Dijana requested."

"And that interested party on Calabria?"

"He is not offering enough for Quynn. When he matches our price, we will sell her to him."

Mordrad laughed. "My dear, you are ruthless. I thought you and her had become good friends."

"It is business. And the prince?"

"There is only one man with enough credits to purchase him, and we will have to wait until we have completed the other Calabrian transaction before we approach the emperor with news of his precious son's return from the dead. As for Taeron, the bidding is still open and the price is climbing. After his display against Ryanwin, the competition to procur him is quite fierce and we stand to gain a fortune when we sell the warlord. You will have to heal him before he leaves. His master will want to breed him and it will be impossible in the shape he is in."

Carrinda's husky laugh disgusted Quynn as much as hearing them talk about them as if they were animals. "I have every intention of healing him and enjoying him before he leaves."

"My dear, you will have as much success with him as you did the prince. Those Calabrians mate for life. Even without the blood bond he will not want to lie with you."

"I shall enjoy the challenge and his eventual capitulation."

Mordrad chuckled. "They do all succumb in the end."

One of the men returned to them. "They are aboard and we are ready for takeoff."

"Good. Stay behind and inform Quynn that we had unexpected trouble on Ergas and that we will be gone a few more days. That will give us time to deliver the women to the Teralonian representative."

Quynn wished she could confront them, to stop them until she had a chance to consult with Stryfe on the prudence of the women returning to their people. After what Taeron had done, she doubted it was wise for them to return without her brother marrying the princess. But there were too many for her to handle on her own, and she was concerned about the interested party on Calabria that wanted to purchase her. If she did try to stop them and was captured, they would transport her with the other women and sell her to the Calabrian. It was very unlikely to be her father. If he knew she was here he would be leading men and brandishing swords, not haggling over her price.

She hid in her ship until Mordrad's had taken off, and then she ran to the castle. She was out of breath when she finally reached it, and the guards at the gate barely glanced at her before letting her enter. She hurried in and up the stairs, skipping some as she went. Not wanting to see Amyr, she went to Stryfe's room first, but her brother was not there. Knowing him, he was groping some woman. Who was he to blame Taeron for his behavior? He whined and complained about being a lowly scribe but he had as many women climbing on him as Amyr did. She did see Jeshed on the bed with Yori cuddled against him, the former snoring and the latter fast asleep.

Having no choice, she crossed the hall and didn't bother knocking before throwing open the door. She heard a grunt and looked down to find Stryfe lying on the floor, a bottle of wine in his hand that had spilled out around him. She didn't need to imagine him passing out in that spot. Taeron was sprawled on the bed and Amyr was unconscious on the mat where Taeron usually rested.

Of all the ridiculous times to get drunk! She wondered if Taeron and Amyr had drank even a cup or whether a sip of the potent wine had been enough to knock them out. Calabrians! Looking from one man to another, her eyes rested on Amyr and she could not resist waking him first. Crossing the room, she kicked him as hard as she could in the backside. She was expecting some sort of shout of pain, but he did no more than grunt and turn on his side away from her where he began to snore loudly.

A cup flew across the room and Quynn ducked to avoid it before it hit Amyr on the side of the head. She turned to see Taeron flop back down on the bed, but Amyr stopped snoring.

Disgusted, she went to Stryfe who she did have some experience in getting out of a drunken state. They had done their share of partying during their years at the academy. Her father – well her stepfather – had taught her a particularly nasty move to use as self-defense which just happened to work wonders on drunken pilots who needed to get up.

"OW!" Stryfe bolted up, eyes wide and bloodshot. "What in blazing hells did you do that for?"

"They took the princess and her sister! Get Taeron and Amyr up!"

"Who took them?"asked Stryfe, as he rubbed his face with his hands.

"Mordrad is selling them to some Teralonian."

Stryfe stared at her for a moment in silence and then he jumped to his feet. "I did not think this business with Teralon could get any worse! I don't suppose there is any way of stopping them?"

"I finished the wiring, but I haven't started the ship,"she told him. "Stryfe, what have you not told us about the treaty with Teralon?"

"I have no intention of breaking the emperor's confidence. Suffice to say, Taeron mating the wrong female is the least of our problems now. They were not to return to Teralon without an army led by Taeron."

"I don't suppose the emperor could have told Taeron that little detail."

"Taeron? Taeron would have insisted on taking the army and subduing Teralon without taking the bride and Queen Neria wanted a warlord for her daughter. Anyway, Trey wanted to …. Why are we talking about this? I'll get these guys up and bring Jeshed and Yori. Get the men on the ship and get it ready to take off. We have to cut them off before they get to empire space."

Quynn was hoping to have a little longer to adjust to her new role as mother and, yes, wife, but it appeared she was not going to get it. She dashed down the steps, ignoring Lady Sarranda's query about why she was in such a hurry. The Calabrians stayed in tents near the landing field, and some of them were already up, so after catching Danlaer and telling him to get the men on the ship, she dashed back to the ship. First she searched through ship and found her battle pilot uniform, and praying that it still fit after four years and one baby, she managed to squeeze into it. It fit like a second skin from head to toe and she felt somewhat uncomfortable in it after the years of wearing gowns and tunics. But there were sensors in the specially designed fabric that would sync with the ship and make it more responsive to her commands. When she left the Cinq Kingdom, it was the latest innovative technology and Quynn had taken it for testing, never dreaming that she would not be returning. Now she was going to do the testing she never had with a ship that had vines growing up the insides of the walls.

Keldar was the first to arrive, and when he saw her in the all black suit, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open before he abruptly turned his back. "I am sorry, Lady Quynn. I did not know you were unclothed."

"Shut up and go check the fuel supply." She turned to see Danlaer standing at the entrance, his back to her holding his arms wide to keep the men from entering. "What are you doing? They need to get in here. Do they have their things? We are not returning."

"My lady," gasped Danlaer. "I cannot allow them to see the prince's mate as you are."

Quynn glanced down, seeing nothing amiss. Maybe her breasts were bigger than when she had come to Calabria, but the uniform accommodated the change. Frowning, she resisted the urge to throw something at him, a fireball came to mind. "Get them in here. If you would rather, I still have magic and I can burn out their eyes. Will they comply then?"

She hadn't expected a murmur of discussion as they decided which was worse, seeing her in a skin tight suit or having their eyes burned out. Apparently Calabria had a long way to go in viewing females as anything more than breeding partners or whores. Finally they came aboard, but each man studiously avoided looking at her as they shuffled past, falling over each other to get away from her. What did they expect Amyr to do?

"What in the name of the gods are you wearing, wife?" She had expected him later rather than sooner. Amyr stood in the entrance, his face a mask of pure rage. "Who has seen you in that … that … garment?"

The Calabrians had avoided looking directly at her, but Danlaer hung his head. "I humbly beg your forgiveness, my lord prince."

"Stop pandering to that oaf and see that they are all secured." Quynn took the pilot's seat and after running her fingers over the panel, she was pleased that the systems lit up. She was making the connection from her suit to the ship when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Turning, she wasn't surprised to find Amyr looming over her. "You will put something on! I will not have the men seeing you in such a state of undress!"

"I am not undressed,"she pointed out. "I am completely covered." She saw Stryfe herd a red-eyed Taeron as well as Jeshed and Yori onto the ship. "Tell him to back off. I have a job to do and he is getting in the way with his possessive ranting."

"Possessive ranting! I will not have other men look upon my female!"

"I would listen to her," warned Stryfe.

"I am the only man who should see her..." Quynn didn't give him a chance to finish. Amyr was too dull-witted to realize that he was standing too close to her. What she did to him made the other men wince with sympathy and Amyr fell to the floor with a moan of agony and she heard Yori whimper. "Does anyone else have an objection?" She did not have time to worry about their feelings.

Stryfe strapped in Taeron who was clearly still befuddled with alcohol and probably didn't know what was going on, then he went to Amyr who was on the floor, his hands between his legs.

"Are you bleeding?" Stryfe asked him

Amyr's answer was an indistinct groan.

"Get him strapped in. We need some speed to clear the planet and atmosphere. They have a head start on us."

Keldar leapt aboard and secured the hatch before turning back to her. "The fuel pods are full, but I saw a kink in the line that was keeping them from feeding the reactor."

"A kink!?" Quynn was outraged to realize that she could have returned to Calabria.

"What is wrong with Prince Amyr?" Keldar rushed to help Stryfe put him in a seat and strap him in. "Is Lord Taeron sick?"

"I will explain later. Get ready for take off." She activated boosters to lift the craft from the ground and it protested before breaking free of the vines covering it. She moved it up over tree level. "Are you all secure?" She looked over her shoulder to see the men watching her with varying degrees of terror. Well, Taeron's head was bobbing and Amyr was sitting with his legs pressed together. Maybe she did not need to hit him that hard, but it felt damn good.

She entered the sequence and put her hands on the controls. The ship shot forward and she ignored the shouts of fear and gasps of surprise as the craft climbed rapidly until it sliced through the atmosphere and broke free of the planet's gravity. Once in space, she put it through routine maneuvers to test its response to the systems. Danlaer and Keldar sat on either side of her as co-pilots watching her actions carefully, and when she was finished, she flipped the ship a few times which made them laugh. Predictably, Taeron vomitted. Fortunately, he turned his head to the side and managed to do it in Amyr's lap.

"Sis, I think you planned that!" Stryfe was laughing. Her co-pilots did not dare laugh at the crown prince's distress.

"I think you must have made some modifications to the systems," commented Danlaer. "We have two of these ships in the emperor's fleet and they are not capable of what you just did."

Quynn chuckled. "I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. I pilfered a few things from Mordrad's ships so we have some interesting ordinance." After setting a course for empire space, she turned to look at Keldar. "What can you tell me about that kink?"

He scratched his head and seemed reluctant to speak, but then he said, "It was more of a knot."

"A knot?" rasped Amyr. His voice was little more than a wheeze. "Are you saying it was deliberate?"

"Staefyn," muttered Taeron who was barely conscious and when his head drooped forward, Quynn guessed he had blacked out again.

Amyr slammed his hands on the arms of the seat. "This is incomprehensible! Do you know the planning that had to have gone into everything you have accused my stupid younger brother to have done?"

Quynn glanced at Stryfe, ignoring Amyr. "If I had gone in the direction of the wormhole, I would have run out of fuel before I reached it."

"Why did you go in the opposite direction?" asked her brother. She knew he was gathering information for the archives. She didn't care.

"I knew that L12 would be the first place they would look for me and I wanted to get as far away as possible. I was hoping Chaela would hide me on Teralon."

"I am sorry that I cause you such..."

Quynn snapped her head to glare at Amyr. "If you are looking for absolution, you are not going to get it from me. I have to be your wife, but I don't have to like it." She looked back at Stryfe, but she noticed that Danlaer and Keldar looked uncomfortable, probably because of how she had spoken to their precious prince.

Closing his eyes, Amyr rubbed them and turned his attention to Taeron.

Quynn looked back at Stryfe who seemed to want to say something, so when he nodded to the corridor to the crew quarters, she told Danlaer to scan for Mordrad's ship, then unbuckled and followed Stryfe. When he determined that they were far enough away, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

"The night of your flight from Calabria, Staefyn left as well and headed in the direction of the wormhole with the explanation that he was going to meet his sister who was coming from Bayman for the ceremony. I didn't want to say anything in front of Amyr. I think he is beginning to believe us and I don't know how he will take knowing that Staefyn was positioning himself to be your savior."

Quynn shook her head. "That cannot be true! Staefyn was in love with a woman in the Guerani hills."

"Staefyn never brought the woman to the emperor. He kept putting off their meeting, and at first Trey accepted his excuses because Staefyn is so modest, but his patience was gone and when Taeron and I were preparing to leave, Trey was sending men into the hills to discovering the identity of the woman."

Her heart seemed to drop into her stomach and she found it difficult to breathe for a moment.

"Sis?"

 _"She does not yet realize how I feel about her."_ Staefyn's words came to her, the words he had spoken as she waited to hear if she was going to be allowed to marry Amyr. Now she remembered the intense look in his eyes, the lingering kisses he had placed on her hands. Her head was spinning as she thought of Mordrad's remark about the interested party on Calabria that wanted to purchase her.

"I am going to be sick."

"Lady Quynn, I found their signal!" Danlaer's voice drew her back to the control room and she quickly took her seat. They had been traveling at the highest speed she thought the ship could handle after being idle for so long, but she was surprised that they had caught up so soon.

She swung into her seat and strapped in, and as she synced her suit to the controls, she checked the screen and saw that Mordrad's ship was heading in the direction of the planet they had left behind. When it drew nearer, she slowed her speed and was not surprised when she saw that they were being hailed.

Quynn pressed the button to communicate.

"Quynn, I am very disappointed that you decided to leave without saying goodbye." Mordrad made a clucking noise. "After all that we have done for you?"

"Well, after what I overheard this morning I realized that I had overstayed my welcome." Quynn wondered if Mordrad had entertained other offers to sell her but kept her near because of Jeshed. Now that she could not summon a dragon his need for her had diminished greatly.

"Then you must know I cannot just let you leave. I have received a … what was it called my dear?"

"A bride price, I believe is what he called it."

"A bride price!" Amyr's shout of outrage made Taeron snap awake and groan.

Quynn ignored him. She supposed she would have to tell him once she dealt with Mordrad about his brother's peculiar fascination with her. She had no proof that Staefyn was the interested party, but all the evidence seemed to point in his direction. "What did you tell him?" She wanted to know if Staefyn knew about Amyr, but more importantly, if he knew about Yori. Her son was safe in Jeshed's care back with the men in the quarters, but she doubted Staefyn would be pleased to find himself the stepfather to his brother's son.

"We did not tell him anything. Do you think such a man can leave empire space without explanation? The Teralonian representative, a pleasant man named Kai, handled the transaction. I don't think your new master would appreciate the addition of your husband and child to his house, so we will find a use for them."

"Kai!" Taeron jerked off the restraining straps and stumbled to the panel. "What have you done with the women?"

"Ambassador Kai met our ship and he has since departed to take them back to Teralon. And don't worry, warlord, we did not let slip the trick you played on Princess Dijana. Come back to Norvana. Carrinda will cure you and teach you things Kai's blood thrall could not even dream of."

Taeron shouted with rage that Quynn did not even think her level-headed brother was capable of. Amyr shot out of his seat and before anyone could guess his intent, he slammed Taeron's head on the edge of the control panel. His imperial guard sagged unconscious to the floor.

"Was that really necessary?" asked Quynn with annoyance as it took Danlaer, Keldar and Stryfe to drag Taeron's unconscious body back to the seat to strap him in. "Could you not have used your powers on him?"

Amyr shook his head. "I am not yet skilled enough to calm him quickly, and I sensed he was losing control. Having gone through what he is going through now, I thought it prudent to put him down before he destroyed the ship." Amyr raised a brow at her and rubbed where she had hit him earlier. "In answer to your question, yes, it was necessary."

When he turned his back to return to his seat, Quynn caught herself smiling, but then she remembered Mordrad. "I have no intention of returning to your planet, and you surely know that I have no intention of allowing you to sell me."

"Sell you? I have already sold you, Quynn. I merely have to deliver you."

"Who has purchased my wife?" she heard Amyr demanding of Stryfe who made some incomprehensible sound.

"What were you planning to do with Yori?"

"I had not planned that far in advance. After you had gone, Carrinda was going to adopt him. She has always wanted a child but has been unable to conceive."

Quynn grew cold with fury. "I would never let my child be raised by a duplicitous whore like her."

"Quynn, I thought we were friends," said Carrinda, her voice filled with patently false dismay.

"You were just waiting to find a way to make a profit off me."

"We have been making a profit off you and your dragon since you came into our lives," Carrinda told her, her voice now devoid of any hint that they had once been friends. "We could have continued as we were, but Jeshed ruined everything. So when I saw that Sharisse was a blood thrall, I sent messengers back to Teralon seeking her master. Such creatures do not like to lose their possessions. Warlord Kai was willing to bleed Teralon dry for the price we demanded. Unfortunately, I don't think it was a happy reunion with Sharisse. He was displeased that another man marked her."

"Taeron will kill him," Quynn predicted. She glanced back at her unconscious brother and hoped he stayed that way for a while. It would take days to reach empire space so she knew he would wake up before then...

"I can keep him that way," Amyr told Quynn and she realized he must be reading her thoughts.

She frowned at his intrusion, but she asked, "How do you plan to do that?"

He did not respond but she guessed what he would say. Taeron would end up in a trance. It was probably the most humane thing to do for him when his blood bond would make his waking hours a living hell, especially coupled with the knowledge that Sharisse was in Kai's power again.

"Prepare to be boarded," Mordrad told her. "I tire of this discussion."

"He has activated a tractor beam," Danlaer told her.

"Too bad for him," she muttered, then said aloud. "Mordrad, I suggest you strengthen your shields because I am sending you a parting gift." She entered a launch sequence. "Anyone not strapped in is getting plastered to the ceiling now." The ship exploded with a burst of speed and she directed it straight to Mordrad's ship after dropping a missile loaded with a lethal amount of plasma. She expected him to attempt to stop her, so she spun and rolled the ship to avoid the energy burst form his guns before she hit secondary boosters and the acceleration of the ship made it shake. Were it not for the shields, the ship would have incinerated, but the shields held for the several minutes that she maintained hyper speed. The next time she saw her grandfather she would give him a big kiss for his rigorous attention to safety in the design of the ship.

Upon slowing, she checked the tracking screen and did not see Mordrad's ship. The missile would have detonated to overload the systems on his ship so he would not be able to repair it for at least a couple of days. By that time she would be closer to the Calabrian binary system and he could not dare follow her there.

After modifying the speed, she unstrapped from the command seat, and ignoring the gaping looks from her co-pilots, she first checked Taeron's pulse to make sure Amyr had not killed him, and finding it strong, she left to check on the men in the cabins, but especially to see how Yori and Jeshed fared. They were still strapped into seats and seemed relieved that their flight through hyperspace was over. They both looked exhausted so she assured them it was safe to nap and that they would be in flight for a several days. Quynn wasn't sure what would be waiting at the end of that flight, but she had no where else to go now.

Worried about the wiring, she was about to remove the panel from the wiring cluster, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Stryfe. "It is Staefyn, isn't it?"

She shrugged off his hand. "I have work to do. I don't have time to tell you all the sordid details..."

"I know you, sis. There are no sordid details. But when we return, you can damn well bet that Staefyn is still playing the perfect little prince. His father has no idea that he has a poisonous snake positioned at his heel."

Quynn put her forearm against the panel and leaned her head against it. "I do not want to believe it. I never noticed Staefyn, not when my heart belonged to Amyr. But he was there, watching us and wanting me. He tried to tell me that day when Amyr and I made our oath, but I didn't listen. I was just too happy that Amyr and I were finally going to begin our life together."

"You cannot blame yourself for what he has done," Stryfe told her. "His obsession with you is only part of the puzzle. The emperor told me before I left that something happened to him in the Guerani Hills that changed him. I was going to investigate when I returned from escorting Taeron."

"So it is my brother."

They turned to see that Amyr had come upon them deep in the bowels of the ship. Quynn found it difficult to meet his gaze. "I think he is the man that purchased me from Mordrad."

"Then he just lost a fortune on nothing because I will not give you up."

"I think I will go check on Taeron," said Stryfe. He probably suspected they were going to argue and she couldn't blame him for fleeing. At least on the control deck he wouldn't be able to hear them shouting.

But Quynn was tired and heartsore for everything she had lost. She had loved Carrinda like a mother and to learn that she was just using her to gain profit hurt terribly.

Amyr moved closer to her. "I am not very good at it yet, but I can take away some of your pain." He did not wait for her to agree before putting his hand on her cheek and he swept away a tear with his thumb. "Yori told me that your thoughts and feelings are shielded from him when you use your fire magic."

"Are you training me now?" Quynn forced a laugh and she reached up to move his hand from her face, but she liked how his hand felt under hers. She liked his touch. Had she lost her mind or was he using Guerani sorcery on her?

His head lowered to hers. "I told you to use your power to shield your thoughts."

What was the use? She wanted him to kiss her, to help her forget what role she played in Staefyn's apparent descent into insanity. Amyr did not disappoint her. His kiss was gentle at first, but Quynn was a woman of fire, always had been in his arms. The fire he created in her was what brought her back to him and she could not deny it now. His hand dropped from her face as he urgently sought the enclosure for her suit, and she would have laughed if she didn't find the tunic he was wearing equally frustrating. Soon enough and yet too soon, they managed to rearrange clothing so that they could do what they both wanted.

He shoved her back against the wall and pulled her legs around his waist, and when he joined them, she nearly shrieked with equal parts of pleasure and relief. Quynn remembered the palace in the Guerani Hills where Amyr was going to take them for their honeymoon, or what they called the mating initiation. In the trance he had made love to her with gentle caresses and honeyed words. Now they were rutting like animals in a moldering dark recess of a derelict ship, vines still clinging to walls. But she cried out with pleasure as their movements became more frenzied until they both finally found release.

For several moments he leaned into her as his erratic breathing calmed and then he sighed deeply. "I have just given you a daughter."

Her body jerked in shock. "How could you ..." And then she burst into laughter, whether in hysteria or joy, she did not know. "You prick!" But her heart was not in the insult, not when he had given her such pleasure and a child on top of it. "Will you always know before me?"

Amyr lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Yes."

She wasn't sure what she saw in his gaze, but it made her happy. "Are you using sorcery on me?"

"The same sorcery you use on me." He leaned in to gently kiss her lips, swollen from his kisses. "Taeron will wake soon. I need to get him trapped in a trance."

"I need to check the wiring." Quynn felt giddy, especially when she felt the rapid return of his need. "I suppose it can wait a few more minutes." She frowned at him. "Hey, I hit you pretty hard. How is it you can still do this?"

Amyr chuckled seductively in her ear. "I am a Guerani healer. You think I cannot heal myself?"

Sliding her arms around his neck she pressed her body against his. "I will just have to think of a better way to chastise you."

"I look forward to whatever you can come up with." His lips moved down her neck and her body tingled, alive with anticipation, but she realized what he was going to do and grasped his hair to pull back his head. "Not yet, Amyr. We don't have time for your mating cycle to run its course."

His deep groan of disappointment almost made her relent, but Taeron had confided in her his own misgivings for what he had done with Sharisse. The mating cycle lasted almost a month after the initiation, which was usually the ingestion of the female's blood. The cycle would happen again after the birth of a child, so that made Emperor Trey's large household easier for her to understand.

"When this is all over,"he assured her, "I will bond to you again, Lady Quynn of the house of imperial Lord Duo Maxwell."

Quynn smiled. "I look forward to that day, Crown Prince Amyr of the house of Emperor Trey."


	29. Chapter 29 Return to Ulfynaeus

**Chapter 29**

After demonstrating a complex attack sequence, Taeron ended with the sword in position to defend against a back attack. "You have to be prepared for attacks from all directions."

Hearing no response, he turned to see the men sprawled on the ground. He was about to berate them for their lax attitude towards training, but he realized the almost non-stop pace he had set since being pulled into this trance was responsible for their fatigue. He had been driving them too hard, but he needed the distraction and since they had been living beyond the frontier as slaves, their skills needed refreshing. The men did not seem as appreciative as when they entered the trance, but that was many weeks ago by the accelerated time that passed on this plane.

Amyr was the first to rise. Taeron wasn't surprised because Amyr seemed to have finally found incentive to become a warrior. Perhaps he felt guilty for bringing Taeron here, or he finally realized that he had much to learn, but Taeron was sure Amyr was compelled by a reason that he did not share with him. That reason made Amyr the hardest worker among the men.

"I don't think I can follow all your moves," Amyr admitted. He pointed to the exhausted men. "Why don't we let them rest awhile while you help me." He took an opposing stance and Taeron faced him. When their swords clashed and they came together, Taeron instructed Amyr and they separated and came together again, Amyr following his direction diligently. They continued like this for what seemed like hours before Taeron finally called a halt to it.

He took a drink from a water-filled pouch and handed it to Amyr. "You haven't told me why you are doing this."

Taeron wasn't a fool and knew why he had been put in the trance. The separation from Sharisse was probably wreaking havoc on his body left on the ship while he trained with Amyr and the men at Guerani Palace. He had no way of knowing how long they were there although the men came and went, leaving Amyr and Taeron behind. From time to time Taeron would feel himself slipping out of the trance as his body writhed in fever, but Amyr would sense it happening and lay his hands on him, hands that send calming waves through him that would enable him to stay in this place created by Guerani power.

"You haven't asked before." Amyr wet his hands and ran them through his sweat soaked hair, but he did not answer Taeron's question. He supposed that doing so might make Taeron anxious which would make it more difficult for Amyr to keep him here.

"I think I will take a bath," announced Amyr. In this strange world he had access to the chambers of the crown prince which had yet to be completed before Amyr had gone to Teralon. In the years that he had been gone, Staefyn had overseen the completion of the palace that he had made his home.

"Is my sister waiting for you?" Taeron had almost walked in them in the bath when he had gone to the chamber to clean up, but the noises he heard coming from it convinced him not to disturb them. He wanted to be happy for them, but he was too discouraged about his own situation and knew that there would be consequences for what they were doing without the mating bond.

Amyr raised a brow. "You haven't said anything about that either. I think I like this in you, Taeron. Usually you have too much to say about my actions."

"I suppose I should be thankful that you are not fighting and that she seems to have accepted her position in your life." His sister's moods were mercurial so Taeron doubted their idyllic truce would last long. Amyr was bound to do or say something that would make her temper erupt.

"We have a good reason to put aside our differences."

"You mean she has good reason to accept you as you are and not as she wants you to be." Taeron wasn't sure he trusted Amyr, especially knowing that his bond with Quynn was broken and when he returned to Calabria, all the old temptations would be waiting for him. The crown prince had yet to prove to Taeron that he had truly changed.

"I gave her a child," Amyr told him.

"Yori." Yori's presence in Amyr's life had been beneficial, and not because his powers had grown with the proximity of another Guerani. His son had given Amyr the purpose he had lacked in his life.

"Another child. She nurtures our daughter in her womb."

Taeron stared at him incredulously. "How could you do that? You don't know ..." He was at a loss for words because he considered their behavior so utterly irresponsible. As irresponsible as his own with Sharisse, but Sharisse had told him that she could not conceive when she was enthralled by the Varoonyan. Taeron did not believe he was ready for the responsibility of a child, but it was another reason to kill Kai to release Sharisse from his hold on her.

As usual, his thoughts of her made him grow warm and he started to tremble, but Amyr reached out and touched his hand before it could grow uncontrollable. He didn't need to be told that if Amyr could not ease his anxiety on this plane, Taeron would return to the ship and the physical hell that awaited him. Even with Amyr's help in this strangely calm world, Taeron's thoughts eventually returned to Sharisse and what she must be going through on Teralon.

"Don't think about her," warned Amyr.

Taeron met his gaze. "Even without the bond, how would you feel if you knew that Quynn was in the power of such a man?"

Amyr did not answer and Taeron suddenly realized that Amyr was training because he had reason to fear for her safety.

He could not ask him about it because Stryfe and Jeshed suddenly appeared in the trance along with Yori who dashed to his father. Amyr swung him up and kissed his cheeks. "Has Jeshed been taking care of you?"

Yori threw his arms around his father's neck and kissed him back, then turned his head to look at Jeshed. "He has been teaching me."

"If anyone needs lessons, it is Jeshed."

Jeshed chuckled. "I think you can do without me for a few hours." He walked away from the palace courtyard and nobody was surprised when the enormous shadow of dragon's wings flew over them. Jeshed could shift in the trance, but he had yet to figure out how to do it outside the mystical world created from Amyr's mind.

"So this is a trance." Stryfe had never been in a trance and now he looked around with curiosity. "The palace is unfinished," he observed. "On Calabria it is finished and Staefyn has been living there."

"I will be changing his living arrangements in more ways than one," stated Amyr so fiercely that Taeron glanced at him. So he no longer believed his brother was harmless? What had changed his mind?

"Quynn sent me in to tell you that she would not be joining you for tea, whatever that means." Stryfe chuckled at Amyr's discomfort. "She had to put the ship through some tricky maneuvers near Teralon. Apparently they were expecting us and a handful of Varoonyan battle gliders came out to greet us. I don't think the emperor is going to be pleased that Teralon harassed an imperial vessel."

Taeron raised his sword to touch it to his forehead. "Then I will return to Teralon to teach them a lesson." He wanted to teach Balak a lesson the man would not live to forget. Taeron blamed him for what happened to Sharisse and he ached to punish him for his subsequent mistreatment of her. She was his mate now and he was going to protect her. Being unable to do so now made him feel anxious and as sweat broke out over his forehead, his body began to tremble.

Amyr reached out for him but Taeron stepped out of his reach. He wanted to feel the pain that would be part of his life until he was able to reunite with Sharisse.

"Well, I wouldn't plan that far in advance if I were you. Quynn has to do some rewiring so we will not be reaching Calabria as soon as she had expected. I suspect that there will not be a warm welcome there either since that interested party was cheated of a fortune. The old pirate satellite would be an ideal location for Varoonyan gliders to hide. There is enough junk there to hide them from any sensor sweeps from the surface."

Taeron raised a brow. "What interested party and a fortune for what?" A look passed between his brother and Amyr that made him realize they were keeping secrets from him. "Are you going to tell me?"

Stryfe put his hand on Taeron's shoulder. "We have good reason to believe that Staefyn paid Mordrad to deliver Quynn to him."

Hearing that Staefyn had purchased his sister only added to the distress Taeron was feeling. He was failing to protect Quynn again. His father would be ashamed as well as dishonored by his actions. Had Staefyn coveted Amyr's female? And if he did, why had done all that he had when all he needed to do was challenge Amyr? Why befriend a creature like warlord Kai and aide him in his attempt to subjugate Teralon? His actions were incomprehensible, especially this latest. When the emperor discovered that his own son had broken the law forbidding slavery and the purchase of sentient beings, he was going to be infuriated. Staefyn's obsession with Quynn had made him careless. And since he had purchased her from Mordrad, did that mean he had not taken the female in the Guerani hills as his mate?

"What was he doing in the Guerani hills?" he heard himself asking aloud. A sharp pain lanced through his head and he suppressed the groan as he shook it off. His head was aching now in addition to all his other problems. Where had that pain come from? Ignoring it he said, "He claimed there was a female there that he cared about." A lie no doubt, to cover where his interest really laid. And yet Staefyn rarely left the sacred hills, so something made him go back, something gave him the courage to act against his own family, against people that loved him.

Suddenly Stryfe disappeared, and Taeron watched as the world around him wavered and then dissolved and he found himself strapped tightly in his seat on the ship, his body drenched with his sweat and trembling as the ship spun as if out of control while careening toward the second moon.

"Sorry about that, guys!"Quynn called out over her shoulder in a cheeful voice. "Stryfe was right about those gliders. There were about a dozen and I managed to take them out, but our shields are compromised and the navigation system took a shot. I will try not to destroy father's palace when we land."

"I would be more worried about destroying mom's garden," Stryfe said with a laugh although he was clutching the arms of his seat.

"I am going to be sick." Taeron's belly began to heave and his head was spinning faster than the ship. His body was already weak from the bonding fever, so he was less surprised and more relieved when he lost consciousness. If he died, the last thought he had was his regret that he had never told Sharisse who he really was.

"Is he going to be all right?" Taeron could hear Quynn's voice as if she were far away. "When is he going to wake up, mom?"

He felt gentle a vhand on him, the cooling touch of Guerani healing.

"Don't do that!" He heard his father's disgruntled voice. "Let him come out on his own."

"Father, don't be an ass! Taeron is sick." Taeron wished Quynn would not speak to their sire in such a disrespectful tone, but he could not even form any words. His body was still wracked with wave after wave of heat and aching pain.

"Trey is not happy. Actually, that is an understatement. I might be able to appease him a little if you would allow me to tell him that Amyr is here and that the two of you … By the gods, never mind! That will anger him as well." He blow out his breath and Taeron, lying with his eyes still closed despite his effort to open them, could imagine his father's exasperated expression. "You know what would be nice about now, babe? A shot of something strong."

"It appears that is what got Taeron into this condition in the first place."

Taeron would not correct his father's wife. It had been many days since the wine had dulled his senses for a short while, just as Amyr had predicted. But the wine had long since worn off, and now he thought of how they must have taken her at the pond where she had been waiting for him.

"His pulse is racing." He realized that Lady Trynity was holding him by the wrist. Her touch made his stomach churn. "I don't think the alcohol is all that is making him feverish."

There was a moment of silence. Taeron did not want to open his eyes to see his father's rejection for what he had done.

"Why are you looking at me?" He recognized Amyr's voice. " You assume I had something to do with it? I never would have allowed him..."

"So you do know what is wrong with him!" he heard his father shout. "I had hoped that after everything that happened, you might have changed, but you dragged my son into..."

"No!" Taeron's eyes flew open and he saw his father towering over Amyr, holding him with fistfuls of his tunic – Taeron's tunic, probably the last one not ruineds. "Don't touch him!" His tongue was swollen and he tried to move towards them, but other parts of him were so painful that he thought he would shame himself by fainting.

Lord Duo released Amyr who stumbled back before regaining his balance and hurried to Taeron's bedside where his wife was pushing Taeron back down. "Son! You are awake!"

Lady Trynity took her husband's arm. "Go find that drink and I will look Taeron over. You can talk to him later after I have determined the cause of his illness and given him something to relieve some of these symptoms. Quynn get your father out of here and find him something to drink."

"Hey, I have work to do on the ship! It took a pounding on the landing. Father can find his own moonshine or whatever he drinks." Taeron watched his sister march out with their father's gaze following her with a frown.

"Amyr, I want you to wait a moment," Trynity said, stalling him from following Quynn. "There is a herb in the garden that I want you to find for me."

"Really, babe? Prince Amyr is going to root around in the dirt to pick herbs for you?"

Amyr chuckled and winked at Taeron. "My lord, you would be amazed by the things I can do."

The governor of the moon answered with a grunt, then walked out, probably making a straight path to the alcohol he drank when he was irritated. Since it calmed him as much as Lady Trynity's tea, Taeron wished he could partake of that vice as well.

Trynity waited until her husband was gone before she described the herb to Amyr, and she turned her attention to Taeron after he had gone. She gave him a sip of water and then proceeded to touch him gingerly, using her healing powers which were very weak compared to Amyr but still served to calm him when his body wanted to reject her touch. Even if he could tolerate the contact of a female not his mate, her intrusive inspection almost had him writhing with shame, but he was lying naked under a sheet that too heavy on his burning flesh and he was too weak to resist her.

She finished her examination and moved away without speaking, and when she came back, she had a cup of one of her healing teas. "I won't tell your father what has happened to you unless you want me to do so. I must admit this mating bond is quite fascinating to me. Taking a female's blood triggers the release of hormones either from the pituitary gland or an extra gland that …." She frowned as if she realized that Taeron had no concept of what she spoke. "Well, some day I hope to get the emperor's permission to study a Calabrian male in depth, but I really doubt he will let me examine a cadaver."

Was she talking about this because he was a captive audience? The tea relieved much of the pain he was feeling and calmed the anxiety he had suffered since he had learned that Sharisse had been taken. Taeron remembered Amyr drinking copious amounts of the tea after the night of his oath ceremony and how he had been concerned about his illness.

Trynity had grown quiet as she thought and then she said, "I have treated some males with an herb that you are familiar with. I remembered that Trey seemed quite fond of it on Earth, and knowing what I do now, I think it made life bearable for him when he was parted from Arora."

He blinked at her. "Weed?"

Trynity laughed. "There are more technical terms for it, but its medicinal value is quite useful in your situation, especially as I have synthesized it to directly target the symptoms. Don't worry. You won't be smoking it. Trey is already going to be furious when he finds out his warlord is incapacitated because he is in the worst phase of his mating cycle and his mate is not her to ease him. Even if I would find it amusing to see the look on his face if you stumble into his presence higher than a kite – I think he would probably demand a little of that action – I would not put you in that sorry predicament." She chuckled as if she were imagining the scenario, one that Taeron did not want to think about when he had broken the oath he had given the emperor.

She grew serious. "I do hope that your mate is Princess Dijana."

Taeron closed his eyes to keep her from seeing his shame.

"Oh dear, that does pose a problem. I hope this female is worth the fallout this is going to cause."

"She is,"he managed to croak as he looked at her.

There was sympathy in her green eyes as she caressed his cheek with the backs of her fingers and he was relieved that her touch did not bother him as it had done only a few moments ago. "I can see that you love her, Taeron. While I cannot speak for your father, I can promise you that I will do whatever I can to see you reunited with her. Close your eyes and let the tea put you to sleep. I will inject you with something that will take care of the worst of your symptoms and later we can discuss a regimen of treatment until you are reunited with your mate. Do you want me to tell your father?"

Taeron wasn't a coward although it would be so much easier to have his dear stepmother tell him. "Thank you, my lady, but I must bear the news of my dishonor to him."

She rolled her eyes. "The one word I have grown to dislike heartily in this brutish system: dishonor."

By the time Taeron awoke from the sleep induced by the medicine his stepmother had given him, the room was in shadows and he could see from the window that the first moon was barely visible above the surface of the planet below this moon. He sensed another presence and he turned his head to see his father sitting in a chair beside the bed looking tired and haggard, probably how Taeron had looked when he sat at his father's bedside as he wasted away in a trance. Lord Duo had credited him with saving his life, but now Taeron felt miserable for what he must tell him.

He heard a long, deep sigh. "You are awake."

"Lady Trynity gave me some medicine," he said.

His father chuckled. "She tried to pour one of her noxious teas down my throat earlier today, but I am not foolish enough to let her. I imagine that what you are going to tell me will make me wish I had taken her calming tea or at least drank enough brandy to dull my senses."

Taeron did not know how to tell him of the great dishonor he brought to his father's house.

"I spoke to Stryfe," his father said when the silence had stretched uncomfortably.

"It is not his right to tell you!" Taeron was furious to think his human brother would violate his privacy in this matter. Was nothing sacred to the scribe?

When his father put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down, Taeron realized that he had almost leaped out of the bed. The medicine that Lady Trynity had given him made the pain of his bonding need but a dull ache, yet he was afraid of his actions if he was unaware that he was doing them.

"Stryfe would not tell me anything. In fact, he refused to give his report to the emperor not more than an hour ago when Trey called to demand explanations. Unfortunately, or fortunately for us all, we lost the signal to the planet before he could order me to threaten my own son's life to get him to talk." Lord Duo sat on the edge of the bed and took Taeron's hand. "Perhaps we should wait until second sunrise," he suggested. "After a good night's rest..."

"No! It must be done." He dragged his hand back from his father, and after fumbling with the sheet, he left the bed, and refusing the offer of help, he managed to find the fresh clothing laid out for him which he put on with his back to his father.

When he finished, he found the sword the emperor had given him upon becoming an imperial guard, placed in his hands by Lady Arora, and the dagger Lord Duo had presented to him when he took him into his house. First he went to stand by the window where he looked at the moon that his mother governed. He could barely see it when the planet blocked the light from the suns. These were the darkest hours of the night and he thought it fitting that he should tell his father of his shame during this time. As he peered through the darkness at Dagmaeus, he regretted that his actions would disappoint his mother who had been so delighted in the honor the emperor had given him. This was a poor way to repay her for all her lifetime of sacrifice.

Lord Duo had come to stand nearby, waiting patiently, so Taeron turned and dropped to his knee before him, and lowering his head, he raised his dagger with two hands to offer it to him. "I have dishonored your house."

There was a moment of tense silence before he felt the weight of the dagger gone from his hand and he could not stop the tears that welled in his eyes. But he could not take back what he had done, and even if he could, he would not. He loved Sharisse too deeply, and if he must lose his honor and his life in doing so, then he would die for her.

Now he reached for the sword and he held it up as he had done with his dagger. "I have shamed myself in breaking the oath I have given to the emperor."

He heard the breath catch his his father's throat, and the tears spilled over his lashes as Lord Duo took the sword from him. Then Taeron waited to hear the words that would cut through him like the blades his father was now holding, the words that would banish him from his house. But silence stretched between them for several minutes before Lord Duo finally spoke.

"I know part of what you have – or shall I say – have not done. Stryfe may have refused to give Trey details, but the emperor already knows that you have broken the treaty with Teralon by not taking the princess as your bride. I hope you have a good reason for not doing so."

The reason sounded petty and selfish the moment the words left his lips. "I could not love her."

"Why? Because she is not beautiful enough?"

"She was very beautiful," he admitted. He still had not raised his head to look at his father's disappointed face. It would hurt too much after all the years he had worked so hard to earn his recognition and his approval.

"Then tell me why, Taeron, so I can make sense out of the reason that my son has been disgraced."

His throat tried to close, but he forced the words out. "I bonded with her sister."

"You what?! Her sister? Sharisse? How could you do something so foolish?!" His father was now reacting with the outrage Taeron felt he was due. "You let that scheming whore get under your skin?!"

Taeron leaped to his feet and he faced his father, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. "She is not a whore! I love her!"

They stared at each other now, almost nose to nose, eye to eye, and then Lord Duo shook his head. "This has caused a civil war on Teralon."

"Civil war!" Taeron could not believe that the ramifications of what he had done were so far reaching.

"Avar's father was making a move to depose his wife, to wrest control from the females who have ruled Teralon as far back as their history records. He has been trying to put Avar on the throne in place of the rightful heir, Dijana. As her mate, you would have brought your forces to Teralon to help Queen Neria regain control." His father threw the weapons on the floor and as they clattered before coming to rest at his feet, Taeron felt as if his heart had been crushed.

"I want to forgive you Taeron, but what you have done cannot be forgiven. You have betrayed the emperor's trust in you, you have doomed that innocent female on Teralon to gods' only know what fate she will suffer in this struggle between her mother and Balak, and for what? Because you cannot resist a pretty face and pair of shapely thighs? Love? You cannot possibly love such a viper! She has done exactly what Balak expected of her by seducing you so that you did not take her sister as your mate. Now Princess Dijana has no protection and you have no honor."

Taeron could not help but worry more about Sharisse than he did Princess Dijana. He did not care about the princess. He did not care about Teralon. He only cared about Sharisse.

Seeing his precious weapons lying on the floor, he retrieved them and tried to return them to his father who was striding towards the door, but Duo turned on him, still furious. "You can give them to Trey after you have used them in service to him one last time. Edgeland Fortress came under attack yesterday and was seized by rebels, the same rebels that attacked Guerani Palace a few weeks ago."

"Staefyn," hissed Taeron, his fury replacing the shame he felt.

"For now Staefyn is safe. The palace is nearly impregnable after the fortune Trey recently sent to Staefyn to make it so." Taeron was speechless as he realized that Staefyn had not used the fortune to defend Guerani Palace. He had used it to purchase Quynn!

Duo continued. "Staefyn seemed well when Trynity saw him at the fortress where she was treating an illness that spread through the men there. Staefyn had been there gathering troops and equipment for defense. "

Of course he had! The communication to other worlds went through Edgeland Fortress and Staefyn would have needed to be there to contact his Varoonyan ally. Speechless with shock at Staefyn's duplicity, Taeron reached out to grasp his father's sleeve, to catch him before he left and he flinched at the anger he saw in his eyes, but he had to tell him what he knew about the emperor's son.

"Have you spoken to Quynn?" He could not believe Quynn would not have told him about Staefyn.

"Quynn? No. I have been here waiting for you to wake up because I was worried. I don't feel like facing the dishonor of another of my house yet, so I will speak to her in the morning. She will need to pilot us to the surface so she has been repairing the ship all day."

Taeron could not allow his father to leave without telling him about Staefyn's lies. "Hear me out, father. I do not deserve your trust, but you are the imperial guard of the emperor and you cannot ignore what I must tell you."


	30. Chapter 30 Duo's wrath

**Chapter 30**

"My lady, it is late."

"I'm almost done." She attached the last of the dozen wires she had replaced, then grasped the openings of the panel and hoisted herself out to find both Danlaer and Keldar waiting, their heads hanging and since they had gotten used to seeing her in the battle suit so they were not averting their gaze, she remembered belatedly that they had been hauled into Taeron's trance and were still exhausted from that experience.

After telling them they could leave, she decided to get some sleep as well. She was filthy and tired and needed rest so she could finish repairs tomorrow. Fortunately her parents were more concerned with Taeron and after the initial shock of seeing both her and Amyr alive and greeting them with effusive hugs, they turned all their attention to him since he looked on the verge of death. Quynn knew what his problem was and soon enough they would too. She was just glad they had not even asked about Yori who had remained close to Jeshed. Since Yori resembled Amyr, they probably assumed he was a child Amyr had sired in his travels. Her father was not going to react well to the news that she was Yori's mother and that she was pregnant again without the benefit of the blood bond with Amyr.

After leaving Taeron in her mother's care, Quynn had returned to the ship to make necessary repairs after the attack near the pirate satellite and the rough landing on the moon. She had managed to avoid any populated areas and no one was hurt on the ship. She knew the flight to the planet was going to be anything but routine, so she had to leave Taeron behind to deal with their father's wrath on his own so that she could work on the damage.

During the day, Stryfe had stopped by to tell her that the Edgeland Fortress had been overrun and was in the hands of rebels calling for the end of Emperor Trey's reign. The emperor's planetary air defense was located at the Edgeland Fortress along with interplanetary communications so Quynn concluded that Staefyn had acted quickly to keep her from reaching the surface to keep his father from learning what a treacherous bastard he had for a son.

Having returned to the palace, she now headed to her chamber, passing through and dismissing the maid waiting to assist her. She did not know where Yori was, but she assumed that he was still with Jeshed. Jeshed adored her child and while Amyr probably thought he was giving him an unpleasant duty by demanding he take care of him, Jeshed enjoyed it. Since it was late, Yori was probably sleeping, so she would look for him in the morning to reassure him. She could introduce him to his grandparents and while she was sure her mother would be delighted, she could not predict the reaction of her tyrannical father.

Planning to relax in the bath, she went to the bathing chamber and was glad none of her siblings had beaten her to the water. Taeron was probably still in his bed, loopy from whatever noxious weed her mother forced him to drink in the form of tea, and she could easily imagine that Stryfe had sought one of the many women in their father's palace whom he knew intimately. To make her bath more enjoyable, she closed her eyes and whispered a spell to heat the water. No more lukewarm baths for her!

As she was finishing, she felt arms slip around her waist and she smiled and leaned back against a hard chest, already recognizing the scent of her mate. She raised her head so that he could press his lips to the pulse at her neck and she shivered from the sensation his kiss sent through her body. Thanks to his powers, the Guerani rascal knew exactly what she enjoyed.

"What have you been doing?" she murmured as his hands moved over the skintight suit she had yet to remove. It had been an inconvenience when her co-pilots refused to look at her, but it made crawling around in the wiring panel much easier than when she was wearing a skirt.

"Picking herbs for your mother, and then waiting for your father to come for my head." He found the zipper to her suit and began to drag it downward. "Thinking about doing this." He had exposed the upper part of her back and he pushed her hair aside so that he could kiss the nape of her neck as he slipped his hands inside her suit and brought them around to the front.

She gasped with pleasure. "Why don't we get in the bath? I am sweaty from crawling around in greasy old wires."

His tongue traced along her spine, and he was tugging the zipper further down when a voice in her chamber made him freeze.

"Quynn!" Her father's voice seemed to bounce off the walls and she gasped as Amyr quickly ducked into the door opposite her room which led to Stryfe's suite. "Put something on, I am coming in there."

She had barely gotten the zipper pulled up before her father stepped into the bathing chamber.

He frowned at her battle suit and she knew that he disapproved, but he did not comment on it. "I saw Keldar and he told me that you had gone to bed, but I need to speak to you now."

She swallowed nervously, knowing that he had discovered the truth about Yori, but before he could chastise her or say something that would upset her, she rushed ahead before he could speak. "I...I am sorry father! I know what you must be feeling, but Amyr and I didn't realize what was happening." She knew she sounded like a silly little girl confessing to stealing a cookie and not a woman facing dishonor.

"What are you talking about? I have just spoken to Taeron..."

"None of this is Taeron's fault! And Amyr did not realize he even had that kind of power..." Her father's brows were raised and she saw that he had no idea what she was saying. But Quynn knew that he would find out sooner or later, so she blurted, "Yori is my son!"

"Yori? Who is Yori? That boy? Amyr's...?" The look on her father's face might have been comical if she wasn't expecting him to explode with fury.

He did not disappoint her. "Are you telling me that you and Amyr...?" He was sputtering now. "That boy is old enough..." Lord Duo took a step back from her and she felt deep guilt even though she had not done anything to feel meit it. "Does your mother know what you were doing with him behind my back?"

Quynn hoped that Amyr did not come in to rescue her from her father's wrath because she was afraid her father's imperial sword would appear and the child in her belly would not have a chance to know him.

"Let me explain."

"Let you explain?! Explain what? That you are one of his many empty-headed conquests?"

She opened her mouth to deny it, but he was right, that Amyr had adequately proven that she had been one of his empty-headed conquests. Only time would tell if she was more to him than that. But she and Amyr could not be blamed for what happened in the trance that gave them Yori. Yet her father had every right to be angry with her. Since leaving Norvana, they could not keep their hands off each other, doing what only bonded mates should do, and frequently at that. They had been about to do it again in her father's home!

"By the gods!" he thundered furiously. "Between you and Taeron, my house has been ruined. Is there anything that Stryfe has done that has shamed me?" He turned away from her and paced for a moment, then his gaze was drawn to the steaming water. "How did that happen?"

"I did it,"she told him anxiously. "I … I have been taught to use magic."

"Magic?" He choked on the word. "You mean like Dagan?"

"I seem to have an affinity to fire," she told him, and with a wave of her hand, she demonstrated by making the torches flare.

His eyes widened and he looked at her speechlessly for a moment, then he shook his head. "The binary gets stranger and stranger. My own daughter is a sorceress."

"I am not a sorceress. I can use fire magic and a little healing, but not the kind of healing that Amyr and Yori are capable of."

Lord Duo shook his head. "I did not want to believe Taeron. So it is true? We suspected Amyr had received his powers, but Staefyn has full, strong Guerani power? Your mother returned this morning after spending the last few days at Edgeland Fortress taking care of sick trainees and he never gave her any indication that he had healing powers. Now I find out that he has orchestrated some scheme to take you from Amyr using those powers."

"Father! I did not encourage Staefyn. And if his intention was to take me, why would he try to remove Taeron? He grew up with Taeron. They were once friends and he surely had no reason to believe Taeron would object. If he had asked, Taeron probably would have pushed me into Staefyn's arms to keep me away from Amyr."

Her father rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head. "If what you say is true..."

"Father, Staefyn purchased me from Lord Mordrad! And when I could not be delivered, he surely arranged for his Varoonyan allies to attack my ship near Teralon and then again with gliders hiding at the pirate satellite so that I could not reach Calabria to report what he had done."

Lord Duo grunted. "He is a clever bastard. He could blame the attack at Teralon on the trouble we are now having with them, and since preying on damaged ships was a hallmark of the pirates, having your ship attacked near the satellite would make us suspect that the activity has started up again although I guarantee that the satellite is uninhabitable."

He sighed deeply. "Trey did confide in me that he was worried about Staefyn, that he was secretive, and discovering now that he was in love with you, I am not surprised that the female he claimed he was courting does not exist. We have to get to the surface to speak to Trey, to warn him before Staefyn shows up and stabs him in the back. After all that he has done, I doubt he intends to face him in an honorable duel."

"I will have the ship ready to take you down tomorrow."

"Does Staefyn know that Amyr is alive? He may be our ace in the hole. With Amyr's return, Staefyn may lose any support he might have gained from the warlords who would like his father's reign to end. Staefyn could never control them and is a fool if he plans to try."

"Staefyn would not challenge his father, would he?" Quynn knew how the reign on Calabria had passed from father to son for many generations, but she believed the tradition had ended with Arora killing Zeno after Trey had defeated him and chose to spare his life. She could not believe there were still Calabrians who would support Staefyn's primitive bid to become emperor.

"I think we can all safely say that we do not know what Staefyn is capable of." He sighed again and looked at her. "So you have made me a grandfather?"

Her father had been distracted by Staefyn and what she had to tell him about how Yori came to be agitated him even more.

"Staefyn planned for Amyr to die in that trance?"

"But Amyr pulled me in without realizing it," she told him.

"How? How could he call out to you from so far away?"

So she told him about the rose and the blood bond, and he stared at her impassively as she spoke, and when she told him that Carrinda had healed the bond, her father erupted in anger again.

"That rutting canyon beast is on the loose in my palace again without the benefit of a bond?"

She cringed at his crude comparison and she wondered if Amyr was listening or whether he had escaped to the far corners of the palace. "Father, Amyr suffered for years with that bond." Quynn cringed as she realized she was defending him.

"Serves him right after his behavior! Don't pretend you do not agree. It was the reason we did not want you to join with him. The only thing that made the match palatable was the knowledge that once you shared the bonding he would bond with you and we would not have to worry about him hurting you with his infidelity."

Quynn would not admit that she worried about his infidelity now that they had returned and he could have any woman with a snap of his fingers. "We have agreed to make this marriage work," she told him. "We will go through the ceremony..."

"What makes you think Trey will want you for his son now? Do you have any idea how appalling the circumstances of Yori's birth are? Not only was Amyr not with you when the child was born, he was not even physically with you when he was conceived!"

Her cheeks blazed with anger and embarrassment. "He agreed to our match! Yori is his grandson!" she exclaimed, furious that the emperor might reject her child.

"You don't really know what kind of hell your mother had to go through to be my wife, do you? You and I know that she was not to blame, that I was fully at fault for our separation, but that does not change how Calabrians perceived her, even Trey, for bearing my children without a bond. He was at least bonded to Arora when he gave her Shamara."

"Are you kidding me?" She could not believe what she was hearing. "Do you think that his behavior on L10 isn't still legend? He was worse than Amyr ever was and he was bonded!"

"Don't you dare say that to his face! Trey did not know who he was or why he was acting as he did. Amyr is fully cognizant of all these facts." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Have you and Amyr...?"

"Father!"

He threw up his hands in disgust and marched away from her. "I know exactly what that means." He paused at the door, but he did not turn to look at her and she felt so much shame that she wanted to cry. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow we will head down to the planet and try to liberate the Fortress. The rebels will know we are coming and they will have all the guns aimed at us. Only your skill will keep us from being incinerated."

She gave him a nervous smile. "I know what is expected of me. The god of death is my father, afterall."

His response was a grunt before he left her.

She stared at the doorway where he had disappeared, and when she felt hands on her waist, sliding up to cup her breasts, she gasped in surprise and turned to find herself in Amyr's arms.

"I didn't think he would ever leave."

Furious, she slapped his face, then shoved him back. "You heard everything he had to say? And yet you come in here and expect that I will have sex with you under my father's roof?"

"You are my wife!" Amyr ran a hand through his hair. "I have been waiting all day for this."

"You are acting as if we are bonded!"

"No," he said with assurance. "We are not bonded."

"How...?" The bottom seemed to drop out of her stomach and she grew cold. "Have you been with another woman?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Why would I want another woman? Is this how it will always be with us? I wanted to bond with you and you refused."

"So this is my fault? Get out!"

"Very well, I will go." He strode to the door to Stryfe's room.

"And don't pull me in a trance!" She did not trust him.

He threw up his hands in exasperation before he disappeared through the door.

"I hate him!"she muttered. She did not believe for a moment that he had not been flirting with another woman. He was incapable of fidelity, just as her father had said. Her own behavior with him sickened her, but she was stuck with him for better or worse. He was Yori's father and she was carrying another child, something she did not have the courage to tell her father. What was the sanctimonious emperor going to think of that?

After removing her suit, she checked it over carefully to make sure there was no damage before setting it aside. The water had cooled to that aggravating tepid state, but she did not bother heating again because she did not feel up to relaxing. Amyr had spoiled that enjoyment for her, so she washed quickly and when she finished, she pulled on a soft robe and went to her room. Seeing the bed suddenly made her realize how tired she was. She had thrown herself across the mound of cushions and pillows on the floor when the door opened and she lifted her head to tell Amyr to get out or she would set his hair on fire, but she saw a faint golden glow and she moved to sit up as Taeron came into the room.

"I am sorry that I told Lord Duo about Staefyn."

She realized he might have been able to hear their father yelling at her because his chamber was joined to the bathing chamber as well. When she stretched out her hand to him, he took it and she pulled him down on the bed with her and for a moment they held each other. They had both grossly dishonored their father. She had known Taeron less than two years and yet she loved him as much as she did Stryfe with whom she had shared their mother's womb.

"We are both idiots," she told him.

"I wish I had some weed to smoke," he admitted. "Your mother uses it all in her medicines."

"If she didn't, the emperor would probably smoke it all up," she muttered and was amused to feel him shaking with laughter. "What are we going to do, Taeron? What are _you_ going to do?"

"For now, I must fight for the emperor. Father has commanded that I lead the men on the assault at Edgeland Fortress. That is something I can do without bungling, at least I hope I can. Staefyn must have wanted to be rid of me so that he could attack his father when I was gone."

"Then he wasted his opportunity." She would have said more, but the communication device in the wall began to beep. Quynn did not like the hologram communication of Calabria, especially now that she was sure Amyr was calling to apologize. She was in a weakened state and probably would beg him to come to her bed to hold her. Her father was right. She was one of his empty headed women.

"I don't want to talk to Amyr," she told Taeron.

He released her. "I will talk to him and then I will go to his room and be sure that he does not disturb you. It is my place anyway. I am still his imperial guard."

Taeron crossed the room and pressed the button to project the hologram.

Quynn gasped when Staefyn appeared in the room. Taeron turned to see the image and Quynn noticed that Amyr was in the doorway to the bathing chamber. He stepped back in the shadows so that his brother would not see him.

She went to stand with Taeron who took and squeezed her hand.

"Why am I not surprised to find Taeron in your chambers, my lady?" drawled Staefyn.

His insinuation disgusted her. "Taeron is my brother!"

"I think we all know that is not true."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Taeron furiously.

Staefyn shook his head in sympathy. "Poor Taeron, all these years you have been lied to. Did you never wonder why my father took such a special interest in you? Larya was _his_ whore. You are _his_ bastard."

Taeron sucked in his breath and Quynn saw Amyr clenching his fists, eager to come into the open. But they did not want Staefyn to know that Amyr was alive yet.

"You should thank me for disposing of Amyr for you, Quynn. He was Dilan's bastard. Everyone knew it and my father only tolerated him because he did not want to expose my mother's shame."

"You are a liar!" blurted Taeron furiously. "Emperor Trey is Prince Amyr's father. My mother told me exactly what happened. That despicable bastard Dilan did not violate Lady Arora."

"You rely on the word of that whore?" Taeron tensed and Quynn suspected that Staefyn knew exactly how to manipulate her brother. The love he felt for his mother made it difficult to hear her maligned. "She lied to you, Taeron. Why do you think Lord Duo never claimed you? He was waiting for my father to do it. I suppose he finally decided that one of his duties as his imperial guard was to cover up his mistakes. That is all you are, Taeron. A mistake."

Quynn's heart ached for Taeron who had been frozen by his words. She hoped he did not believe what Staefyn said.

Staefyn was now smiling grimly. "It is unfortunate that Taeron has returned. I had not expected to have to face him. I was hoping that Lord Duo would be sufficiently riled by the loss of his son – I do mean Stryfe, Taeron, not you – that he would refuse to help my father. I do thank you, Taeron, for making such a mess of Teralon. My father will never trust you again."

Quynn was shocked by the man speaking to them. His disdain and arrogance was unbelievable. "You are completely mad!"

"I think it may take a madman to rule these people,"he told her. "Taeron realizes he cannot stand against me, doesn't he? I have power he cannot fight."

She glanced at Taeron and remembering how he had glowed in the darkened room, she almost laughed at Staefyn. He might find facing her paladin brother more difficult than he could imagine. "Ask the gods for some understanding tonight, Staefyn, because I am bringing Taeron to the planet tomorrow and you will lose the Fortress. Once the emperor finds out you are behind all this, there isn't a place this side of the frontier where you will be safe from his wrath."

Staefyn shook his head sadly. "I am disappointed, Quynn. When I purchased you from those vile slave traders, I thought you would be grateful. I was going to treat you with the respect you deserve. Amyr never would have done that. That selfish bastard was spreading himself thin from one end of Calabria to the other. Is that what you wanted, Quynn? To share him with all those other women?"

His words drove straight to her heart and she knew exactly how Taeron was feeling. She glanced at Amyr who was looking away, his face betraying his shame. She imagined him seducing her mother's servants while she toiled on the ship, free of the bond that had held him to her. Now he raised his head, probably able to discern her feelings if not her exact thoughts and she wondered if he thought she would betray him to Staefyn.

"My sister is right," said Taeron as he stepped towards the communicator control. "You have lost your mind." He ended the communication.

Amyr stepped from the shadows. "I came to apologize. Because I tried to dishonor you in your father's home, not because I was cavorting with the females in this palace. More than one came to test my resolve, but I don't need a bond to reject them when I have you."

She wished she could believe him.

"I love you, Quynn." When she did not reply, Amyr turned to Taeron. "Can his ravings be true? Can I be Dilan's bastard and you my father's?"

Taeron shook his head. "Staefyn is delusional. Lady Trynity used her human technology to determine that I am Lord Duo's son. If you wish, she will do the same for you, but if you wish, you can find out for yourself." He held out his hands to Amyr. "If you need more proof, Shamara told me that she had known all along that I was his son. Don't you think she would have known about Dilan as well from touching you?"

Amyr stared at Taeron's hands for a moment, then he took them, surprising Quynn with what she believed was his lack of confidence. But Amyr squeezed Taeron's hands. "I am sorry that my brother hurt you with his spiteful words."

"I have lost my honor," sighed Taeron. "He knows it."

"Honor!" huffed Quynn irritably. "We would not even have this discussion on Earth. Father would say to you, 'I am so happy you found a woman to love, Taeron.' And to me he would say 'Quynn, the circumstances are not ideal, but I think you will make the most of your life with Amyr.'"

"Will you?" asked Amyr earnestly.

"I don't know," she smiled sadly at him. "I am frightened that I can never trust you."

"I will make you trust me," he assured her.

"Will you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."

He lifted her and she laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her to the bed where he laid down with her and drew her close. When she felt the bed sag, she raised her head to see Taeron on the other side of Amyr.

"In the first place, I am still his imperial guard. I am not leaving him here alone with you." Her brother raised a brow as he looked at her. "He is in grave danger of you losing your temper since he is an idiot. Secondly, I have no intention of sleeping on the floor. I am weary and sore."

Amyr chuckled. "Where were you when she slapped me?"

"Probably weeping over the shame I caused my father."

"We are a miserable trio," said Amyr with a deep sigh. "Is this the plan of the gods for us?"

"The gods don't like us very much," commented Quynn.

"Tomorrow you will see that the gods are with us," said Taeron earnestly.

Amyr grunted. "What makes you think the gods aren't going to favor Staefyn?"

"Jeshed told me that I will always know what is right and what is the will of the gods. Tomorrow we will do what is right."

"What were the gods doing when you were biting Sharisse like some crazed rutting chieftain on the second moon?"

Taeron was silent for a moment and Quynn wanted to kick Amyr for bringing her up when Taeron seemed to be controlling his sickness for her. But Taeron responded calmly.

"It was right and it was the will of the gods."

Quynn laughed. "Keep telling yourself that, Taeron." She yawned and snuggled closer to Amyr. "We had better get some sleep. I have to pilot that craft and if I actually land it at the fortress, you guys have to brandish your swords."

"I would rather be brandishing my sword now," grumbled Amyr.

She heard Taeron chuckle and Quynn smiled as she closed her eyes. She might not be able to put her trust in the gods, but she could put her trust in the paladin.


	31. Chapter 31 Welcome to the clan

**Chapter 31**

Something awoke Amyr shortly before the rising of the first sun, and his first thought was that he did not remember Ulfynaeus being so warm. Although disoriented from waking so abruptly from sleep, he quickly became aware that he was not alone, but he did not open his eyes as he enjoyed the soft curves fitted against him and the female scent that soon had him thinking of how he could pleasantly spend the time between the two sunrises. This was how he wanted to wake every day, with his wife in his arms, her enticing body tempting him from sleep.

But then he felt the restless movements on the other side of him and remembered that they were not alone, and he realized that the other occupant of their bed was the source of the heat. Coming completely awake now, Amyr abandoned the lusty thoughts centered on his mate and turned instinctively toward Taeron. He felt a strong need to heal, so he rose up over Taeron and laid his hands on his shoulders hoping to calm him.

But Taeron jerked awake and he shoved Amyr's hands from him. "We fight a battle today. I do not want you weak because you aided me." His voice was raspy with pain, and the need to help him became stronger, but there was nothing he could do as Taeron's distress seeped into him, urging him to help.

He might be able to convince Taeron to allow him to help by reminding him that Lord Duo expected him to lead the warriors against the rebels at Edgeland Fortress. "And how do you intend to lead the men if you are in this condition?" he asked softly. Amyr's abilities had grown stronger since arriving on Ulfynaeus where he could feel the pull of the ancestors from the planet, but he could not absorb this much pain without risking his own wellbeing and Taeron knew it. Yet he would do it if it meant he could help Taeron.

Quynn stirred on the other side of Amyr and she leaned over him, her hair tickling his neck, and he was relieved by the distraction. "Taeron, can you not sleep? I will take you to my mother. I am sure she can help you." She left Amyr's side and after pulling the tunic over her head that Taeron had probably discarded in an effort to cool his fever, she hurried to help her brother rise with Amyr's help.

He would have gone with her, but she waved him back to the bed. "Wait here. You don't really want to risk my father waking, do you?"

Since Amyr had managed to avoid Lord Duo because of his concern for Taeron, he did not want to face him in the light of the first sun. Nothing good could come of that. She staggered under her brother's weight as she escorted him from her room with his arm around her shoulders, and Amyr regretted being unable to help . Quynn was a strong woman, but Taeron was a large warrior and in his present condition he was of little help.

Even if he were unable to sense Taeron's feelings, Amyr knew how he was suffering during his separation from his mate because Amyr had experienced it as well without Quynn, especially the first few months of his captivity. He had managed to get control of his needs even though he did not know what was happening to him. The day he saw Quynn on that wretched planet, the pain had swiftly returned. Thinking about those dark times now made him feel anxious for Taeron and even though he was not bonded to Quynn, he was eager for her to come back to her bed.

He did not have long to wait. "My mother is taking care of him," she announced when she slipped back into the room. "Father is still sleeping."

Sitting up, he watched her drag the tunic over her head and then his heart skipped a beat when she pulled off the knee length garment she had worn to bed, leaving her completely bare.

Laughing at the expression he must have on his face, she jerked back the blanket covering him and straddled his hips. "We don't have much time before the second sun rises."

Taeron's presence during the short night kept him from acting as he would have wished, but now that her brother was gone, he was not going to pass up the opportunity to satisfy his beautiful wife. The time between sunrises was short and once the second sun rose, he knew it would only be a matter of time before Lord Duo confronted him. And as long as Quynn was willing – nay eager – he was not going to turn her away out of fear of her father. Some things were worth suffering for.

Shortly before the second sun rose, he fell asleep with Quynn in his arms, contentedly spent, but it seemed as if he had not been sleeping long before something woke him. He sensed before opening his eyes that Quynn was gone, and he had a sleepy memory of her murmuring in his ear about working on the ship. He hadn't protested her departure when he hadn't even had the strength to raise his head. Now he felt something cold on his bare chest and he had a premonition that if he swallowed, he might regret it, so he opened his eyes and he was not surprised to find himself trapped with the flat edge of a sword against his chest, the point just below his chin against his throat.

Raising his gaze, not daring to breathe too deeply, he was not surprised to find Lord Duo standing over him, his dark bluish purple eyes unreadable. They stared at each other in silence for several moments, and then Amyr dared to grasp the blade to move away from his chest so that he could breathe without the sharp tip impaling him. Now blood dripped from cuts on his hand as he rolled to stand. His wife's father frowned and wiped his blade on the bed, Amyr quickly healed his hand before finding his tunic and drawing it on.

"So it is true, you have become a healer." the older man finally said. "I was hoping that I would not find you in here." Amyr could hear the disappointment in his voice and he felt regret when he considered Lord Duo as much his father as his own.

"Quynn is my wife," he said, but before he could say anything more Duo interrupted.

"Quynn is not your bonded wife. I have already had this discussion – argument - with my daughter this morning, but I did not think I would have to have it with a Calabrian male, certainly not with you." He sighed as he sheathed his sword, then he shook his head. "We cannot predict how Trey will react to Quynn's return. He was very angry five years ago when she left, as angry with her as with you, Amyr. My daughter shamed my house by breaking her oath to you and rejecting Trey's house."

"She has returned to me. She is my wife." He tried to sound like an imperious crown prince, but based on the look on Lord Duo's face, he probably sounded more like a small boy announcing his claim on a toy.

"Amyr, do not believe for one minute that your father will accept this union. Despite your egregious behavior, Quynn should not have fled. And now there is the complication of the child." Duo shook his head regretfully. "I fear that you may have to take the boy into your house without his mother."

Amyr could not believe that Quynn's father could even suggest it. "I would never part Quynn from our son!"

Lord Duo continued as if he had not heard him. "Trey might be convinced to understand how you cannot be blamed for Yori once he learns what Staefyn did to you, but I suggest you do not test the gods in the future." He nodded to the bed Amyr had just left. "Another child now would not be wise."

Amyr looked guiltily from the bed to Lord Duo whose lips pursed in disapproving understanding, and when he raised his hand, Amyr flinched, expecting the righteous anger of a father whose daughter had been dishonored, but the hand dropped on his shoulder.

"You must love my daughter, Amyr, because I did not think you were that much of a fool." Amyr was surprised when he pulled him into an embrace. "I have always thought of you like a son. I was ..." He pursed his lips as if he meant to say more, but he finished by saying, "I am not displeased that you have become my son in marriage to my daughter even though I had my reservations when you came to me five years ago asking to make her your mate."

"I am sorry that I have disappointed you, my lord."

Duo bent to touch his forehead to Amyr's. "You seem to have made my daughter happy. I shared the morning meal with her and Yori, and I already adore that child. Whatever Staefyn had planned for you in that trance, Amyr, I doubt the end result was that precious boy."

When he stepped back, Amyr did not know what to say because he was overwhelmed by the deep emotion that the other man felt.

"We will head to the planet in a few hours. Darlac has heard of Taeron's return, so he has convinced his father to meet with me to give you a chance to plead for men to help retake the Edgeland Fortress. You may have to use all your Guerani charm on Meridon."

Meridon? Why did it have to be Meridon? Almost six years ago when Lord Duo had escorted Amyr's sister to her intended husband, Amyr had acted as governor in his behalf. Since he had a capable adviser, Amyr should not have encountered any difficulty, but during Lord Duo's absence, his adviser had suddenly died, actually murdered unbeknownst to Amyr at the time, and religious fanatics had stirred up the clans on the moon. Meridon was the one chieftain that had offered to help Amyr which surprised him because he knew that the old chieftain was the last zenoite to be banished to the moon, that he had caused his father no small amount of trouble in opposing his rule. Meridon did not trust any imperials, and since crown prince Trey had raided his camps several times, he refused to recognize him as emperor. So Amyr had gone to meet with Meridon and he had been pleased to be on the verge of accomplishing something that his father had failed at for many years. Unfortunately, the agreement fell apart and his short term as interim governor on the second moon had ended in a debacle.

Now Duo smiled. "You may have to grovel in begging Meridon for his help."

After what happened with one of Meridon's unwed daughters which led to his subsequent refusal to help six years ago, Amyr doubted even groveling could convince Meridon to provide men now. He wondered if the chieftain was dangling the offer just so he could refuse again, knowing how much it meant to Amyr, and to Amyr's father. Lord Duo had a garrison of warriors and the dozen men brought back from Norvana were worth thrice their number after Taeron's diligent training, but they could not hope to recapture the fortress. Adding the experienced warriors of Meridon's clan would even the odds, yet Amyr knew it would not be easy to convince the chieftain to help the emperor he still refused to acknowledge with his oath.

Duo left him then, and Amyr bathed quickly, before going to Taeron's chamber to check on him, and finding it empty, he decided to help himself to Taeron's clothing so that he could look presentable. As he dug through Taeron's wardrobe, he mused that Lady Larya wasted her talents as a seamstress by governing the first moon. Taeron had not complained in the past when he wore his clothing, so when he found a very fine tunic of soft fabric and elaborate stitching at the back of the wardrobe, he did not hesitate to put it on.

When he was dressed, he went in search of Quynn or Taeron, making a detour to the kitchen where he was provided with a meal. The female serving women fell over themselves to keep his plate full, and while they flirted with him, he ignored their open invitations. As Amyr conversed with them pleasantly, he mused that he had always viewed women with one purpose in mind, gratification of his needs . But now he could read their feelings, and he was bothered that they were disconcerted to the point of fear by his lack of interest. Any one of them would gladly sacrifice her honor to please him and he was disgusted by the selfishness of his youth when he would have readily taken advantage of them. Only the gods knew how Quynn looked past that to see something in him that had been hidden under layers of narcissism and arrogance.

To put them at ease, he inquired of their families, their husbands, their children, information he was able to glean from a quick scan of their minds. When one of the women burned her hand over the cooking fire, he healed her before she could seek Lady Trynity for an ointment, and they all relaxed in his company enough that one of the females teased him about taking up his uncle's mantle. He recognized the speaker, Haedya, who he could have blamed for the trouble the night of his oath ceremony to Quynn. But Amyr knew the fiasco was his fault, not Haedya's, not Taeron's and certainly not Quynn's. Amyr did not mind her comparing him to his uncle, not when Lord Apolo was beloved of all females even after giving his heart to one. Amyr had once thought his uncle was a fool when so many females would do anything to be with him, but he understood now why he would give them up for the woman he loved. Just as Larya was for Apolo, Quynn was the part of him that had been missing. He had been too much of a stubborn fool to accept that truth.

When he finished his meal, he asked if any of them had seen Lady Quynn or Lord Taeron and they directed him to Lady Trynity's workroom, what she called her clinic. He was hoping to see her or Taeron on the way, but he guessed that they were at the ship preparing for the trip to the surface. And since he did not see Stryfe either, he assumed the scribe was with his father as he prepared to meet with Meridon.

Entering Lady Trynity's clinic, he saw Jeshed sitting on a chair rolling down the sleeve of his undershirt as Lady Trynity walked away from him with a small glass tube filled with blood.

When she saw him, she waved him to a chair next to Jeshed. "You are just the man I want to see," she said as she placed a label on the tube. "I would like a sample of your blood."

Not surprised by her request, he removed his tunic and watched her place the tube with Jeshed's blood in a holder that contained other samples on which he noted Taeron's and Quynn's names. Her methods were not as efficient as Guerani healing, but there were few Guerani, so her work was vital to the empire. In addition to the many medicines she had created from the plants that either grew naturally on Ulfynaeus or which she crossbred, she had trained many healers to use her methods and as a consequence the health and well being of all Calabrians had improved since her arrival.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked as he rolled up his sleeve.

When she inserted a needle to draw blood, he winced, but he quickly willed the pain away. "I am interested in Jeshed's blood, so I intend to study what has made him human, his DNA or his life strands as Jeshed calls it. Quynn told me that he was a dragon, but on another plane of existence. As for Quynn, she showed me her use of magic, so I am interested to see if her blood has changed." She smiled at Amyr. "She also wanted to know if you are as omniscient as you claim, and while I cannot yet know the sex of the child, I did determine that she is, indeed, pregnant."

"She will bear a female," Amyr told her confidently. "I sensed when it happened." He did not know how it was possible, but he had felt the creation of life the moment it happened.

"If she were not happy about it, I would ask why you did not prevent conception when I know you are surely capable." She sighed in resignation. "The gods must know what they are doing although I am not so sure about you and Quynn."

Amyr thought it best to distract her. "Why do you wish to study my blood?"

"Quynn told me that you had a bond with her and that the healer on Norvana severed it. I have been studying the phenomena for a few years now, so I am wondering what may have changed. Anyway, I want to compare your blood to Taeron's." She frowned in thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you think there is any way I can talk your father into allowing me to examine the cadavers of Calabrian males, bonded and unbonded?"

Amyr thought it as likely as Meridon hoisting his father on his shoulders and proclaiming him emperor of the universe. "The funereal right is performed as quickly as possible after death to send the dead to the gods."

Chagrinned, she said, "I thought not although I am sure I could learn much to help the men of Calabria."

"Taeron is better?" he asked, caring only about her helping one man.

"I have provided him with the same medicine that I have given to men with his affliction."

Amyr snorted. "I am surprised that my father would allow you to tamper with such a basic need for Calabrian males."

"He has no control over the tribesmen, and they appreciate my efforts to help." Lady Trynity laughed. "He was very angry when Duo told him about the medicine, but I offered it to him, and while I know he loves your mother, his need to be at her side hampers his ability to rule effectively." Amyr knew that his father rarely left the palace because he did not want to take his wife in public when many still reviled her because Dax had dumped her in the Wastelands as if she were trash. Whether he feared for her safety or did not want to hear the insults people might say about her openly, Amyr did not know.

She continued. "I want to offer it to males who cannot be with their mates." She put her hand on Amyr's shoulder and he saw the sympathy in her eyes. "I cannot imagine how you suffered, Amyr, when I have treated men with the symptoms, some even worse than Taeron's. For that alone, Staefyn is a despicable man."

Amyr did not respond. Despite everything that Staefyn had done, he did not want to believe that he could be so cruel. Was it possible that Staefyn did not know what had happened to him?

Jeshed came to stand by her, and she turned to look up at him. "I am honored to help you, my lady, in your study of my life strands."

She smiled up at him. "There is something very familiar about you, Jeshed, but I am not quite sure what it is. Perhaps I will figure it out when I examine your DNA " Sighing, she looked back at Amyr. "Duo stopped by looking for you shortly before you came in. Meridon has arrived with his people, so you should attend them in the courtyard. I will come with you."

After putting the tunic back on, Amyr waited for her to remove the apron over the knee-length tunic she wore over silky leggings that clung to her legs. There would be nothing amiss in what she wore were she at the imperial court or her husband's palace, but she could not appear before Meridon wearing such clothing. She did not leave her workroom until she was swathed in a dark cloak and cowl that partially hid her face. Amyr thought that Quynn's battle suit would probably infuriate and shock Meridon into a fit that would kill him so he hoped he was never in a situation to see her wearing it.

The black-clad warriors already filled the courtyard so Amyr had hope that the burly old chieftain now speaking to Lord Duo had already committed to liberating Edgeland Fortress from the rebels. Lady Trynity moved away from Amyr to stand with another female in similar garb and he was stunned to realize it was Quynn when he saw a chestnut curl had fallen out of the cowl which her mother quickly tucked back in.

"My sister has to be seething in that outfit."

Amyr turned to see that Stryfe had come to stand beside him along with Taeron who bore no resemblance to the debilitated man that had left his room that morning. Taeron's lips were turned down in a frown as he looked at the tunic and Amyr felt a little guilty now.

"My mother intended for me to wear that at my bonding ceremony," Taeron remarked. "My sisters did the stitching."

"There is no need for a bonding ceremony any more," said Stryfe with a chuckle. He fell silent when Amyr glared at him and Taeron cast a guilty glance in his father's direction.

"Has Lord Duo spoken to you today?" Amyr asked Taeron. He could not believe that Taeron's father would rebuff him, but Taeron shook his head with a quick glance at his father who was listening intently to something Meridon was saying. When the governor glanced their way, Taeron bowed his head and turned away.

"I will find out what Meridon is discussing with my lord father," said Stryfe. "It will give me a chance to practice his language. I am fascinated by the development of peculiar dialects by the moon's tribes." The scribe headed towards the two men, oblivious that he was talking to himself about vowels and consonants.

"Meridon does not like my brother," commented Taeron. "He calls him the emperor's hill weasal."

Amyr sighed. "I don't think Meridon is going to help. He hates me and he hates my parents. Should we worry that he is providing warriors that will stab us in the back because he has secretly allied with Staefyn?"

Taeron stiffened. "Meridon is an honorable man. He will not make any alliance with Staefyn because he has not proven himself, has never blooded his sword in battle. He will be infuriated if our suspicions are true that Staefyn masqueraded as one of his clansmen to secure his way to Teralon."

Lord Duo waved for them to approach and while Taeron dragged his feet, Amyr squared his shoulders and headed to the mountain of a man that commanded the warriors filling the courtyard. The men were dressed all in black from the wrap on the top of their heads, to the black warpaint that hid their features, to the tunic, leggings and boots. The warriors fought with two curved swords which were longer than daggers, and Amyr knew that they had several daggers hidden on their bodies. Meridon's men were as awe-inspiring as the imperial warriors of the emperor, had only been defeated once by those warriors almost twenty-five years ago.

Twice as wide as the governor, his body hard with muscles, Meridon was also twice as old and had survived the reign of Emperor Zeno as well as the constant attacks by the emperor's maniacal imperial guard, Dax. He had long, shaggy white hair and a matching beard that nearly reached his waist. His weathered face was craggy with age and marred with more than one scar that he had probably received from the edge of an imperial sword.

Now Meridon sneered at Amyr, his dark eyes flashing with disapproval as they swept over. "I agreed to speak to you only because I trust and honor Lord Duo." He spit at Amyr's boots, narrowly missing them. "I have no use for a bastard, certainly not the bastard of that Guerani whore and her bastard brother."

"My mother is not a whore!" Amyr reached for his sword, but Duo swiftly stayed his hand.

As if he could read Amyr's rage as easily as Amyr could read his contempt, the old man laughed gruffly. "Such swift defense, son of no man."

"I am of Trey's house," he said through gritted teeth.

"And yet he did not bring you into this world. That Guerani bitch crawled off to a dark corner of the palace to whelp you in secret. What man stood to claim you then?"

"Meridon," growled Duo furiously. "Did you bring your men here so that you could force us to listen to you insult gracious Lady Arora? I will stomach no more."

Meridon glanced from Amyr to Taeron, then to Duo. "My son will lead the men to the surface, but only under Lord Taeron's command." A warrior detached from the scores of men waiting and Amyr recognized him as Darlac, Meridon's son who had been at Teralon, who had fought at Taeron's side through the entire Varoonyan campaign. Darlac had no love for Amyr, not when Amyr had tried to order him to ready the men for the assault that had failed. In the subsequent chaos, many of Meridon's men had been killed when the Varoonyans overran their camp. That Darlac would fight at all to help him was surprising.

Before Amyr could accept those conditions, Duo shook his head. "Taeron will not command the men. They will fight for Prince Amyr."

Looking past Amyr to Taeron, Meridon frowned. "Then what I have heard is true. He has shamed your house."

"I will not discuss it."

Meridon rubbed his thick white beard, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Taeron, and then he shook his head and turned his attention back to Amyr. "My men will not fight for a man who has not proven himself."

"How can I prove myself?" demanded Amyr, stepping forward and speaking before Duo could intercede.

The old man's scornful gaze swept over Amyr. "Did you not prove your lack of worth of Teralon? You could not command the men there and many did not return to see their wives and children because of you. You could not be of Zeno's house! You are not even an imperial warrior." He spat again and started to turn away.

Taeron stepped forward and he spoke to Meridon in his own language. Duo's lips were pursed in disapproval, but he did not interrupt his son. Amyr could not understand his plea, but Meridon turned back, his gaze thoughtful. He looked at Darlac and said something to which the old chieftain's son nodded solemnly.

Taking Amyr's arm, Taeron walked him away from the other men and Amyr noticed that the courtyard had cleared as the warriors moved back. "Take off my tunic," he ordered Amyr. "I don't want you to get any blood on it after all the work my sisters put into making it."

Amyr frowned as he did as Taeron commanded. He noticed that Darlac had pulled his two swords and was swinging them with impressive speed. "What have you gotten me into?"

"Meridon claimed you were no imperial warrior, so I suggested that if you could prove otherwise, you are worthy of taking his men to the surface."

Although Amyr drew the sword of the crown prince, Taeron took it from him and handed his own to him. Amyr knew that reminding them that he was the emperor's son by using the sword would inflame them, so he did not argue with Taeron.

"I am to fight Darlac? Darlac?" He had a memory of Darlac spinning his sword in battle, cutting men down with the same ease that Taeron used his imperial blade. "He will kill me."

Taeron put his hands on Amyr's shoulders. "Touch me, Amyr." Amyr raised a hand to put over one of Taeron's and he was surprised by the confidence that he read in him. "You will put my training to use to defeat Darlac first and then to take back Edgeland Fortress for your father. I trust you, Amyr. I would readily follow you into battle." When Amyr dropped his hand to take his sword in both hands, Taeron smiled. "Do not kill Darlac. You need only fight to first blood."

"And will Darlac try to kill me?" asked Amyr as he watched the other warrior head to the middle of the courtyard.

Taeron shrugged. "I don't know what kind of mood he is in today."

With those discouraging words, Taeron moved away and Amyr took a deep breath before heading to the spot where Darlac waited. He did not even glance towards Quynn because he was afraid he would see her fear. There could be no place in his mind now for anything but the fight. But as they bowed to each other, Amyr could read in the other man's eyes that he would enjoy nothing better than to slice him up. For the first few moments of the fight, Amyr was on the defensive as Darlac came at him with his swords flashing in the sunlight, their deadly tips narrowly missing Amyr. Amyr almost stumbled and that would have been the end of the fight in more than one way, but he had seen Taeron do this very thing again and again, so he knew what to do. Amyr was an imperial warrior!

He flipped back to regain his footing and put more distance between him and Darlac before charging forward, his sword swinging, metal contacting metal again and again until Amyr managed to hook one of the curved blades and the strength of his blow sent the sword arcing high into the air. Darlac swiped at Amyr with the remaining sword, but the speed of his movement made the blade whistle into the air, missing as Amyr launched himself up, and as he spun, he seized the handle of Darlac's other sword now descending, landed and then flipped backwards over Darlac. The other man did not even realize what had happened until Amyr stood behind him, the blade of Darlac's own sword at his throat. He made the slightest nick and stood back to watch as Darlac raised his fingers to his throat and brought them away to show the blood.

Tense silence reigned in the courtyard and Amyr waited with the sword in his hand to see if he was going to be rushed by the warriors who had not reacted as they waited for their chieftain's direction. Then Meridon threw back his head in laughter and announced something that made Darlac turn and clap his hand on Amyr's shoulder as he held out his hand for his sword.

"Well met, Amyr," he said in the imperial tongue. "You are an imperial warrior."

The clan warriors began shouting and chanting, and Amyr wished that he had made some attempt to learn their language. Taeron came to stand beside him, so he asked, "What is going on? Are they going to kill me?"

"You proved yourself and Meridon is very pleased. He has made you a member of his clan."

Amyr sputtered. "A member of his clan? Me?" He could not think of a less likely male to be taken into the fractious old warrior's clan. He saw Jeshed arrive then with Yori on his shoulders and he wondered if they had watched the fight from one of the windows ringing the courtyard. The white-hared man lowered Yori to the ground and his son ignored his mother's outstretched arm and dashed across the courtyard to him.

Scooping up the boy, Amyr kissed his cheeks and settled him on his hip.

"You fight like the wind," Yori said with awe. "Can you best Taeron?"

Glancing at Taeron, Amyr almost burst into laughter. Could anyone best the gods' blessed holy paladin? "Perhaps some day." He caught Taeron's wry smile and he nearly laughed again.

Suddenly the black-clad males parted and Amyr watched as a female moved through the opening they had made. His stomach clenched and he gritted his teeth as he realized who she was, and he glanced now at Quynn whose head was bent to listen to her mother. Was she telling his wife that the female approaching Meridon was the old man's daughter, Falida?

Amyr had not seen her since the day he had gone to Meridon's camp to ask for help against the religious fanatics. While sharing a meal with the old man who seemed agreeable to his requests, he had tried to keep his attention from straying to the females when they took pains to stay in the shadows as they served the men. By the time the meal had come to an end, he congratulated himself on his self-restraint, but when he left to relieve himself in the wooded area after the meal, the female now facing her father boldly had just as boldly followed him then. Before he realized that he was not alone in the forest, she had him backed against a tree and was rubbing wantonly against him. Could he really be blamed for taking advantage of such a situation? Her father had caught them and Amyr had felt lucky to escape with his life. He expected Meridon to demand to the emperor that Amyr marry the female, but the demand never came, just an outraged tirade by an angry father which his father relayed to him added with his own sermon about setting a good example for the people.

Whatever she was saying to her father now had the old man stroking his beard thoughtfully before he turned to speak to Duo. Duo shook his head and said something which made Meridon frown.

"Can you hear them?" Amyr asked Taeron who was also watching them intently.

"I can and wish I could not." He looked at Amyr. "Falida's mate has not given her a child. She asked for the right to breed with another man."

Amyr raised a brow. "This is done?"

Nodding, Taeron said, "Her mate agreed because he wants to raise a son with her, and against Meridon's wishes, they sought Lady Trynity's help. She examined them both and determined that a childhood sickness has made it impossible for him to sire a child." Taeron shook his head sympathetically. "He is a fine warrior and would raise a fine son."

"Does she have a male in mind?" asked Amyr with amusement, sensing the answer before Taeron gave it.

"She asked for me," Taeron told Amyr who smiled at his imperial guard's discomfort. "But my father told Meridon that I am bonded."

Now Meridon and Duo seemed to be arguing until Lord Duo threw up his hands and nodded towards them, and Amyr chuckled. "I think she is going to try anyway." He noticed Stryfe detach from the group to hurry to his mother and sister, so he guessed he was going to tell them what was happening.

Taeron met his gaze. "Falida has heard that you have no bond with my sister, so she has demanded the right to mate with you."

"Me?" Amyr held Yori closer to him. "I will not!" Would Quynn think _he_ had something to do with Falida's request?

"And if you do not, Meridon will be insulted," Taeron told him grimly.

Amyr set Yori on the ground. "Go to your mother." How was he going to get out of this?

Fortunately his son was better behaved than Amyr ever was, so he hurried to his mother who was listening intently to whatever Stryfe was saying, but Amyr took his attention away to face Falida who had come to them.

Her gaze had followed Yori, but then she looked back at Amyr. She inclined her head so succinctly that it was insulting. "My lord prince, my father has given me the right to mate with you so that I can give my husband a son." Her dark eyes glanced in the direction where Yori had gone, but Jeshed had taken him inside the palace. "You have a fine son. I shall bear a son like him for my husband and you will have to part in his life."

Without waiting for his word of acceptance to what she proposed, Falida reached out to curl her hand around his wrist and he wondered if she intended to mount him in the courtyard. Amyr could not read Taeron's expression, but suddenly his eyes widened and he stepped quickly away to allow Quynn to pass.

Quynn reached out to seize Falida's wrist and she jerked her hand from Amyr. "Prince Amyr is my mate," she announced.

Falida looked at Quynn, sized her up and apparently found her lacking. "You are not bonded, so he can mate freely. You may have him back when I have finished with him."

Amyr opened his mouth to explain that his bonding was of the heart, but Quynn stepped between him and the other woman. "He may not be bonded, but he is still mine."

The clanswoman put her hands on her hips. "Very well, human. I will fight for the right to mate him, and after I have defeated you and taken from him what I want, then you can have him back." Her disdainful gaze encompassed both her and Amyr. "And if I should want a second child, you will have no choice but to send him back to my pillows."

Appalled by her plan, Amyr looked past her to Lord Duo who shrugged as if there was nothing he could do to help. Amyr suspected that Falida was trained to fight because he had heard that the women of the clans were as ferocious as the men in protecting their children. The imperials had as much difficulty with the women as as the men when they raided their camps in hunting rebels.

Quynn cracked her knuckles, the sound so ominous that it startled Amyr. "Let's do this." She glanced at Amyr and winked. "You will owe me, princeling." He raised a hand to stop her from following Falida, but Taeron shook his head and he let his hand drop.

They came to a stop in the center of the courtyard, their voices low as they spoke to each other. Taeron came to stand beside Amyr who worried about the child Quynn carried, and he was grateful for the hand Taeron put on his shoulder, but not for the chuckling at his expense. Finally Falida lunged at Quynn and tried to grasp her wrists, but Quynn smacked her in the face with the heel of her hand, then swept out her foot as Falida staggered and knocked the other woman down. Quynn did not miss a beat before moving behind her, seizing her shoulders and Amyr did not know what she had planned, but her parents both shouted at her frantically to stop.

Quynn let the other woman drop. "Today is your lucky day, Falida. I was going to introduce you to the spine cruncher." She leaned closer to speak to her nose to nose. "Come near my mate again and my mother and father may not be around to save you."

She sauntered back to Amyr, and ignoring the impropriety, she seized Amyr around the neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. "You are mine, princeling."

To his surprise, Meridon burst into laughter and then he shouted some commands to his men who surged forth to pry Amyr from Quynn. Before being engulfed by the warriors he saw that the females of Meridon's clan that had accompanied their mates to the palace had overwhelmed Quynn and he lost sight of her. Worried at first about what they were going to do to him, Amyr realized that they meant only to welcome him to the clan with a change of clothing, and soon he was dressed in black like they were, his face smeared with the black warpaint, but when they tried to take his sword, he balked.

"You will be recognized by the stones," Darlac warned, offering him instead two curved swords. "Lord Taeron will not have time to guard your back and if the rebels see your sword, they will target you."

But Amyr shook his head. "I am the crown prince."

They compromised by wrapping the hilt with black leather so that he could easily grasp it, but he also took the clan weapons. Although he suspected Taeron could wield them with deadly accuracy, Amyr had no intention of using them, having been trained with a two-handed sword. Once he was dressed, he did not have time to react before several men hefted him on their shoulders and carried him to Meridon where they set him on his feet and stood back.

Amyr saw Stryfe watching with a smile although his father stood back with his lips pursed in disapproval before turning and heading to the crowd of females. They parted but reached out to touch the imperial guard of the emperor with coos of approval before closing in on him.

Feeling a presence beside him, Amyr turned to see that Taeron and Stryfe had come to stand beside him. "What is happening?" he asked, and he turned back to the females when Taeron nodded in that direction.

Lord Duo had exited the group and he now escorted his daughter. Quynn was dressed in a garment of brightly colored fabric, bangles on her wrists and a circlet of flowers around her forehead. Lady Trynity came forward, spoke a few words to Lord Duo that Amyr could not hear, then Quynn must have given her opinion because both her parents frowned, but they headed in his direction with their daughter.

"Are you going to tell me what is happening?" he asked Taeron.

"You are giving your oath of marriage to my sister in their custom," Taeron finally said just before Quynn came to stand beside him.

She smiled up at him. "I have been accepted into the clan. Who knew all you had to do was kick the snot out of one of them?"

Amyr returned her smile. "Who knew? Maybe my father should try it." He noticed that Lord Duo and Meridon were exchanging heated words again, but before Amyr could ask Taeron for a translation, the governor threw up his hands in resignation and turned to face Amyr.

"I offer my daughter, Quynn, to you, Amyr, of Meridon's clan." By the tone of his voice, Duo was not pleased to be doing this. Amyr did not need this formality because he already considered Quynn his wife. He remembered Duo's warning that morning about his own father's opinion of the validity of their marriage, but Amyr did not care. What could his father do now after Amyr earned Meridon's approval?

"Are you going to accept her?" asked Stryfe with a chuckle.

"I accept your daughter, Lord Duo," Amyr said.

The older man thrust her hand into his and strode away grumbling to himself.

Quynn glanced over her shoulder at him, then shrugged and turned her attention back to Amyr. "Don't mind my father. He likes to be a bucket of ice."

Amyr wasn't sure of her meaning, but he smiled anyway. "I respect your father's counsel on anything but our marriage."

"As you should not," said Meridon gruffly. "Lord Duo is the emperor's imperial guard. He will act in the interests of the emperor in all things, including you, Prince Amyr. But you are now in my clan, in my house as you imperials like to say, so you do not need to give a gods' damn about Trey's decrees. Will you take this female to be your mate?"

He already had, but Amyr said, "I will."

Meridon looked at Quynn. "And do you take my clan-son to be your mate?"

"Are there any conditions?" she asked after a moment of silence. "Do I have to bow to his wishes? Do I have to clean up after him and cook for him?"

The old man stroked his beard. "I have never been asked these questions. Do you not wish to clean up after him and cook for him? Will his wishes not be yours?"

"Hardly," she huffed with a glance at Amyr who realized he was frowning at her. He noticed Lady Trynity smiling with pride and he knew that his life with Quynn would be anything but boring.

"Very well," Meridon finally said. "If the imperial dog displeases you, I will see that he is thrashed and if you continue to be unhappy, you may sever your union. I will be happy to cut his throat myself."

Amyr swallowed nervously until he noticed there was an amused light in Meridon's dark gaze.

"I suppose I can take him for my mate then," she said as if she were doing him a favor. "But I am not cooking and cleaning up after him. As for the thrashing, I might take you up on that in the future." She looked at Amyr meaningfully for a moment and then said, "Under the conditions that I have set, I will accept you as my mate."

Amyr could see that Stryfe was shaking with laughter behind Jeshed's back and even Taeron looked as if he might smile.

The old chieftain took their hands and joined them, then announced loudly, "Under the laws of my clan, you are mates until such time that I will be required to cut Prince Amyr's throat." Meridon threw back his head in laughter and the clansmen and women cheered.

Quynn squeezed Amyr's hand and she smiled up at him. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

Amyr raised her hand to his lips. "I think I can learn from a thrashing or two."

"I am not so sure," he heard Taeron mutter, but Amyr ignored him as he leaned down to kiss his wife, not caring what anyone thought or how improper it might be. She was his wife and no one was going to part them.


	32. Chapter 32 Taeron learns a sad truth

**Chapter 32**

Taeron was checking his weapons before boarding the ship when his father's wife came to him. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks, and as she did, he felt her slip something into the pouch he carried beneath his tunic.

"What I gave you this morning should last until tomorrow. You must take more tonight or you will be in distress by first sunrise." That morning when Quynn helped him to the chamber her parents shared, he had been afraid that his father would answer the knock at the door, but she had appeared and knew immediately what he needed. Without waking her husband, she had dressed and taken him to her clinic where she prepared him a medicine by mixing water with a powder that worked quickly to ease the pain from being separated from his mate.

Taeron thought of Trynity as another mother although he had already come of age and received his sword before he had come to know her. When he first met her in the human system he had felt threatened by her on behalf of his mother because he had always secretly hoped Larya would entice Lord Duo to become her mate.

He did not want to think about what his ambitious mother was going to say about his dishonor now after all that she done for him.

Sighing, he glanced at his father who was speaking with Meridon. Lord Duo had not spoken to him since his brief report about Staefyn. His stomach knotted and he willed back the tears that threatened to shame him even more in his father's eyes. Imperial warriors did not weep before going into battle.

Lady Trynity hugged him again and he instantly felt better so he suspected she was using her weak magic on him. "You are his son, Taeron. He loves you."

"I have shamed him." The depth of the dishonor he had brought upon himself overwhelmed him. How could something that had seemed so right to him be so wrong?

His father's wife took his face between her hands and her green eyes met his. "Do not go into battle with these thoughts, Taeron."

He covered her hands with his own and he managed to smile down at her. "I wish you could be there with me when I must face my mother."

She laughed. "Forgive me, Taeron, but that is a battle I do not want to witness."

"It is time to go!" barked Lord Duo in his direction although he did not look at him as he turned to join the men now mounting horses to head to the field where Quynn had managed to land the ship with minimum damage to either the ship or the landing area.

"I know that voice. I would get going if I were you." Lady Trynity gave Taeron one last kiss on the cheek. "My the gods protect you, Taeron," she murmured in his ear before stepping back.

Taeron left her and went to a horse that Darlac was holding, and when he mounted he saw that his father had guided his horse to his wife and pulled her up to give her a kiss that made Taeron wish Sharisse were here so he could do the same. Instead she was suffering because of his actions and he could not help her even if he was free to do so. His father had made quite clear that he could never have Sharisse.

When they reached the ship, Taeron entered with Darlac and his men and helped to secure them in the cargo bay for what would probably be a turbulent trip to the surface. He was in the process of strapping himself in when his father entered the cabin and his glare of disapproval made Taeron lower his head. He was aware of Darlac's eyes on him and he knew the other man wondered at the silent exchange.

His father spoke. "You are the hero of Varoonya. Come up to the control room so that you may be the first off the ship because when you do, I am quite certain that more than one man will wet himself to see your sword raised over his head."

"Your sword invokes fear as well, my lord," said Taeron in earnest.

Lord Duo grunted but said no more as he turned and left.

"Your lord father is angry with you?" Darlac was surprised. Taeron and Darlac had fought together during the entire Varoonyan campaign, but he would not share his dishonor with him now. He did not want to see his disappointment.

"I have displeased him," was all he said before moving forward to join his father in the control room.

Quynn had removed the garb she had worn for the blessing and was wearing her shocking battle suit with which she controlled the ship. Taeron had begged her to find something else to wear, but she insisted it was necessary, and now he looked away although the first time he had seen her she had been wearing something similar. He had gawked at her then, shocked that a female would expose herself in public, and while she had impressed upon him the necessity of wearing it now, his sense of propriety was still horrified by her attire. By the downturn of his father's lips when he glanced at her, he felt the same.

Stryfe took the seat next to Taeron. "You aren't going to puke again, are you?"

Their father snorted. "Is he still doing that?"

"And fainting," his human brother added with a chuckle although Amyr shot him a glare.

Taeron felt deeply ashamed when his father shook his head, believing that Lord Duo was disgusted with what he perceived as weakness. Lady Trynity had given him an explanation for his debilitating behavior in space, but Taeron only saw it as a failing. He was determined this time not to lose consciousness when his sister maneuvered the ship off the moon.

The ship started humming as Quynn ran her fingers over the control panel and Taeron's heart began to beat faster. "You had better be strapped in," she announced, "because once I reach the atmosphere, we only have about thirty seconds before the fortress starts firing on us."

He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm his nerves and he stared straight ahead at the viewer as the ship lifted away from the moon. Taeron knew that Amyr was watching him with concern, but he was strapped in on the other side of Stryfe so he would not be able to reach him. Taeron needed to remember his own lectures to Amyr, to focus on the battle, not the sickening fear of shaming himself on the trip to the planet.

"Calm down!" barked his father who seemed to be aware of his distress.

Suddenly all the weight of his dishonor was crushing him, and he knew no matter what he did, he could not redeem himself in the emperor's eyes, nor his father's. And yet he did not want to be redeemed. He wanted Sharisse! The last thought he had before he blacked out when the craft shot straight up to leave Ulfynaeus was that life without her was no life at all.

The first blast from the surface glanced off the ship's shields, and when it rocked the ship, Taeron's eyes snapped open to see streaks of light coming towards the them which Quynn deftly guided the ship to avoid.

"Sorry about that guys!" His sister was laughing! "I just wanted them to think they had a chance." She turned her head and her gaze met Taeron's. He nodded in gratitude, knowing that she had allowed the hit to wake him.

"Don't do it again," barked their father with annoyance. "I would rather not be incinerated by your sense of fair play."

The ship spun and Taeron was proud that he did not pass out again, but the following movements almost did him in again. The energy blasts from the fortress came one after another and while she managed to dodge them, Taeron's stomach heaved and he was glad the only thing he had put in his stomach that morning was the medicine Lady Trynity had prepared for him. Quynn weaved the ship back and forth, up and down, and Taeron closed his eyes tightly as she took it through the atmosphere, now with the nose down and headed rapidly toward the surface at a speed he was sure would kill them all.

"Cupcake, are you going to bring it up a bit?" Taeron heard his father's concerned voice as if from far away. In another moment, Taeron was going to pass out again. His head was spinning and he could not breathe as his heart raced with as much speed as the ship.

"Are you wetting yourself, father? " she tossed over her shoulder with a laugh. "I know what I am doing."

The ship lurched to the side and Taeron gagged.

"Did you do that intentially?" demanded Lord Duo, and Taeron raised his head to see that his father was white-faced.

"I just wanted to see what this old thing is still capable of," she told him and Taeron wondered if she was still talking about the ship. His father was glaring at her back, but she did not give him a chance of respond before she called out, "Hey! Do you think the emperor will be pissed if I blast his cannons?"

"That is the least of his problems now." Her question had apparently been rhetorical because Lord Duo had only said a couple of words before Taeron saw the missiles she fired at the planetary defense battery. They were close enough now that the explosion was visible and she had to veer away from the debris that shot into the air.

"I think Taeron is still with us," remarked Stryfe.

Taeron blinked in surprise, for the first time believing that he could somehow salvage his honor.

"Rough landing!" warned Quynn just before the craft hit the surface, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.

He didn't remember doing it, but Taeron must have unlatched his restraints because he was dashing for the hatch, the hilt of his sword in his hand. He faintly heard Quynn's laugh and his father's surprised shout, and Quynn must have activated the hatch because it quickly opened and he leapt out, somersaulting high in the air, drawing his sword and when he came to his feet, he held the sword before him to challenge his enemy.

Dozens of men – creatures from the looks of their red eyes and the grayish tint of their flesh – had been rushing forward to challenge the occupants of the lead ship, but they fell back from him. Taeron was sickened to see that someone had turned so many Calabrians into battle thralls, men that had lost their will, who could only be killed by removing their heads and even then their corpses had to be burned.

"What in the name of the gods is that?" he heard his father shout.

"Battle thralls," Darlac answered him. "The Varoonyans masters …"

"I am not talking about that! Why is my son glowing?"

"Long story, father," he heard Stryfe say. "I'll tell you later."

"Is every one of my children a freak?" demanded Lord Duo. "What amazing powers do you have?"

"The power to annoy," Amyr responded for Stryfe.

As for Taeron, he did not wait for anyone to join him.

"Shamara!"

He shouted the imperial battle cry and charged forward with his blade swinging. He heard echoes of the same shout behind him from Amyr and his father, before Darlac and his men emerged from the opening of the cargo bay. After that, Taeron lost himself in the battle, swinging his sword to attack, bringing it before him to defend, again and again. He did not regret destroying the Calabrians into whose bodies his sword sliced with ease as he darted among them. Their essence had long since gone to the gods and only the empty husk remained to do the will of their creator.

The battle seemed to last for hours. The creatures poured out of the fortress in waves, many of the men probably recently having been turned into thralls in the capture of the fortress. The two ships following theirs from the moon landed, one with imperial warriors under Lord Duo's command and another filled with more tribesmen. At some point their own forces were joined by reinforcements that came from the direction of the imperial city, but Taeron only had time to notice their arrival to see who commanded them.

He did not stop swinging his sword until there was nothing left to fight, and that was when he realized that his body was aching, his arms were throbbing and he was covered in what appeared to be soot. On Varoonya such a battle would leave him soaked in the noxious rotting blood of the creatures, but he realized now that they had been easier to kill. Turning, he saw the trail of where he had been by the ashes left in his wake. He wondered if these were different creatures than those he had fought on Teralon and Varoonya, but then he saw his father standing in a group of men, their clothing filthy from the sludge their swords had flung into the air.

"Take it down a notch," remarked Stryfe with a chuckle when he came to his side.

Blinking, Taeron turned to look at his brother. "I am sorry." He didn't know what else to say when he did not know what he was talking about.

Stryfe was smiling as his gaze swept over Taeron. "Do you think I will get burned if I touch you? Father's blaming Amyr for turning you and Quynn into sideshow freaks. I think he is waiting for me to exhibit some divine powers."

Taeron looked back towards his father and he was both surprised and horrified to see that the emperor himself had joined in the battle and was covered in the dark muck from the creatures he had killed. Although he knew Trey had fought many battles to keep his reign, the last of his opposition had been vanquished and exiled to the moons before Taeron had been born. He had never seen the emperor holding the wicked sword that had once belonged to Zeno before today and he was awed by the sight.

"Does he know about Amyr?" he asked his brother.

"No. Father doesn't think we should tell him until we have reached the safety of the palace. Amyr is helping the men collect the bodies that you didn't incinerate with your sword."

To keep from looking suspicious, Amyr would have to do such work in order to remain hidden among his new clansmen. Taeron had a hard time imagining him doing it so he looked around to see where he was, but he could not tell him from any of the other dark-clad men who were dragging body parts to piles. Quynn was stepping around puddles of the vile ooze that had once been their blood. She paused to speak to one man and by the way he moved protectively towards her, Taeron knew it was Amyr. He bent to say something to her, and she stretched out her hands towards a pile of mangled corpses. Within seconds hot white fire shot from her hands to engulf the pile.

"By the gods, Duo, is that your daughter?" The emperor had taken notice of her, so Amyr moved away from her and quickly found a corpse to haul to a more distant pile.

Taeron wished he could dodge the emperor as well, but he would have to face the consequences of what he had done.

"It is a long story that I am sure Stryfe will regale you with," he heard his father respond. "I have every intention of listening with you since not a single one of those ungrateful wretches will tell me anything." He was lying, of course, but Taeron was glad because this battlefield was no place for Trey to find out that his son was plotting against him and had caused the deaths of so many of his people. "She will come to the palace when she has finished. Meridon's men will be sure of it."

"As long as she doesn't hop in that ship and fly away again," muttered Trey.

Taeron watched as the emperor mounted a horse and Taeron's father mounted another before the two headed in his direction. Swallowing nervously, he dropped to his knee and lowered his head as they drew closer. He started to raise his sword, but the emperor's voice stopped him.

"Don't bother, hero of Varoonya." Emperor Trey's voice was cold. "After what you have done here today, I dare not make your dishonor public. I have enough insurrection to deal with. I don't need to add the rebellion of my imperial warriors when they do not understand what you have done. Oversee the clean up of this mess, then present yourself at the palace. I am not the only person that you failed. Queen Neria managed to escape Teralon and arrived here several days ago. She awaits the man who has probably caused her daughter's death."

He urged the horse forward and Taeron's father did not even look at him.

"Well, that could have been worse," remarked Stryfe as he came to stand by Taeron to watch them leave. "At least he didn't cut off your head."

"Scribe!" shouted Trey over his shoulder. "Return now! I will hear what you have to say."

Stryfe sighed. "I suppose it was inevitable."

Taeron put his hand on Stryfe's arm to stop him from taking the horse that one of the emperor's men hurried to bring him. "Please let him know that what happened was my fault, that Sharisse was not to blame."

His brother swung up on the horse, but he looked down at Taeron. "Brother, we are all to blame. What do you think our father and the emperor will say when I tell them that I was masquerading as you?"

"That no one in their right mind would believe you are the hero of Varoonya?" Although he was very well disguised, Taeron recognized Amyr who had come with Darlac and Quynn.

Stryfe frowned at him. "You know what my favorite part of the story is? The part where Taeron rammed your own sword through your heart – not once, but twice. That was entertaining and fulfilling at the same time."

Before Amyr could respond, Darlac exclaimed, "What is that creature?" He was staring in the sky, his mouth wide open.

"That is Jeshed," Amyr told him.

Darlac stared at the creature with wide eyes. "But … but I sat near him on the ship!"

The men scattered as the huge dragon that Taeron recognized landed on the battlefield. Yori was riding his neck behind his head and his eyes were wide as he viewed the carnage left on the ground.

"Not on your life, dragon," snorted Amyr, responding aloud to something Jeshed had said that only Amyr could hear. "I am not riding you and I forbid my wife..."

Quynn had stepped into the dragon's claw, ignoring her mate's obvious displeasure and Jeshed put her on his neck near Yori before Amyr could finish his interdiction. The dragon sprang into the air, then dived down to blow fire over the battlefield that passed over the warriors harmlessly but turned the bodies into piles of ash.

"I suppose that means we have to go to the palace now rather than later," commented Amyr, watching with a frown as the dragon flew away with his wife and son.

Jeshed flew towards the fortress and Taeron worried that there might still be rebels hiding within. Giving the order for the men to follow, Taeron hurried across the battlefield to Edgeland Fortress. The gates were wide open and the dragon was perched atop the highest tower, but Taeron saw that Quynn and Yori must have dismounted. There were rebels in the training grounds waiting to attack, but Jeshed suddenly roared and while the sound only made Taeron pause, the rebels became stone still, giving the imperial warriors time to rush into the fortress. Taeron looked up and saw that the dragon had disappeared, so he concluded that Jeshed must have shifted back to his human form.

The remainder of the day, Taeron and his men swept through the enormous fortress, rooting out thralls that were scattered in the many rooms of the former palace of Dax the Demon. Following Trey's ascension as emperor, Amyr's uncle, Apolo, had lived there for many years raising the daughters he had saved from exposure in the Wastelands until he had taken Taeron's mother as his mate. He resided at Edgeland only occasionally although he was still the Wastelands governor, preferring to live with Larya on Dagmaeus.

The Edgeland Fortress once stood at the edge of the great desert known as the Wastelands that stood between the oasis where the imperial city was built and the mountains that could be seen far in the distance. When Trey had defeated Dax in a trance, the gods had shown their favor by bringing the rains that made the Wastelands the fertile plain that it was today. As Taeron stood on the highest walkway of the fortress and stared across the plain towards the mountains were he knew the Guerani Palace was, he felt a tug in his heart and he thought he heard sorrowful murmurings from very far away, but he could not make out the words. Shaking his head, he stared intently in the direction of Guerani Palace, too far away to be seen in the mountains. He could not believe that the gods would cause their favored emperor pain from his son's betrayal.

Amyr joined him and for a moment they stood silently staring in the distance before Amyr said, "There are no survivors."

There had been a large squadron of imperial warriors at the Edgeland Fortress, along with many young recruits who came to train from the same venerable masters that Taeron and his father had learned from. Some of the recruits were only children, and now they were all gone because of Staefyn's lust for power.

"Where is Quynn?" he asked Amyr. He was heartsick at the senseless loss of life and he could see that the Guerani crown prince felt it as well.

"She is working on the communication systems," Amyr told him. "I think her skills are better put to work on that than coming to the palace to listen to my father's rebuke. She feels responsible for what happened because of Staefyn's obsession with her."

"She is not responsible." Taeron took his eyes off the mountains and turned to look at Amyr. "What is out there that would do this to your brother?"

"Nothing," said Amyr. "A few mountain tribes, some goats, plenty of rabbits and a canyon beast here and there. He can hardly claim to be wanting anything when he has been living in Guerani Palace as crown prince. I cannot even believe that Staefyn could do such things among the strongest presence of the ancestors."

Yet something had made Staefyn turn against those that loved him, something that was in those mountains. Taeron did not believe that the creatures that Shamara and Dagan had fought five years ago had returned. Nor did he believe that Kai could have turned him so quickly if someone else hadn't already begun the process long ago. But when Taeron tried to recall their youth together, his head began to ache and he realized that he had overtaxed his body this day. He did not know when he was going to be able to rest when he was expected at the palace.

Darlac joined them. "Lady Quynn requests your presence in the communications room."

Taeron took the lead while Amyr walked behind him with Darlac. He was still disguised so he looked like another clansman in case anyone saw him. They could not be certain that Staefyn did not have spies who would report that Amyr was alive and when Staefyn found out, he would not rest until he had removed the obstacle standing between him and the emperor.

When they arrived in the communications room, they found Quynn all but buried in a tangled mass of cords that she was sorting through, panels pulled off several walls where the heart of Calabrian space communication was now exposed.

"I don't know what he is planning," she said over her shoulder after they had entered and closed the door leaving them alone, "but if he is counting on help from his Varoonyan friends, he will have a hell of a time contacting them with this mess."

"There is interplanetary communication at Guerani Palace," Taeron told her. "And since Staefyn has control of that palace, by disrupting communications here, he prevents the emperor from calling for aide from his warlords and allies on other planets. They do not even realize what is happening on Calabria and by the time they do, Staefyn may have already seized power."

"He can't be too happy that you have returned, Taeron," remarked Amyr.

"He will be even less happy that _you_ have returned," Quynn pointed out. "Even though he is demented enough to believe that Taeron is your father's bastard..."

"That is outrageous!"barked Darlac. "Where would he have … ?" He suddenly fell silent and Taeron guessed he had an idea of where Staefyn had come up with his conclusions. Staefyn could not have believed the malicious rumors at the palace, not when his parents had never made secret their intent for taking Taeron into their house.

"If you know something, share it with us," prompted Amyr.

Darlac frowned and then he said, "I was a small boy when we left the surface, but I remember an old woman who lived in the hills that often sorted through our refuse for rags to wear or items she could use. She claimed to know secrets of the imperial family that would destroy them, but no one paid her any heed."

Taeron exchanged looks with Amyr. "I guess she found someone to listen."

"I never thought Staefyn was a fool," commented Amyr. "She must have been very persuasive."

"We may need to pay a visit to the witch if she is still in the hills," said Taeron.

"It has been many years since we have been on the moon," Darlac reminded him. "She may be dead but her lies live on among the rebels in the hills."

Amyr looked at Quynn. "Where is Yori?"

"Here I am, father!" The boy was hiding in a pile of wires and his head popped out, a wide grin on his lips. "You knew where I was!"

Amyr laughed and dragged his son from the pile to kiss his cheeks. "Are you learning something useful from your mother?"

Jeshed's head suddenly emerged from the same pile of wires. "We are locating a blue wire for her."

"If she can spare you, I think it is time for Yori to meet his grandfather."

"I already met him," said Yori. "Grandfather Duo let me ride upon his shoulders."

"You are going to meet my father, your other grandfather. You can ride on my horse with me."

"Now that I can turn into a dragon in this plane, I can take him..." offered Jeshed before Amyr cut him off.

"He will come with me." As he propped Yori on his hip, he took Quynn's hand and drew her to him. He did not seem to care that his display of affection made Darlac uncomfortable, but Taeron could only think about what he had lost, that he would never hold a woman like Amyr now held Quynn.

Amyr bent his head to speak in low tones to her, conveying his love for her in gentle warnings to remain at the fortress with the warriors and take the ship back to the moon at the first sign of danger. Taeron felt a wave of heat wash over him, reminding him that it was late enough in the day now that he should ingest the powder Lady Trynity had given him. But when he reached for the pouch beneath his tunic, he could not find it and realized it must have fallen off on the battlefield. He swallowed nervously and pushed back the panic threatening to undo him. He was only feeling mild symptoms so he should be able to face the emperor with some dignity if they rode at breakneck speed to the imperial city.

Unfortunately, the ride to the palace was not without incident. Halfway between the fortress and the city, his force of a couple dozen men was attacked, but this time the attackers were not battle thralls, but fully trained imperial warriors. Normally, they would not have posed much of a threat to Taeron, but as he fought, he became weaker and he lost focus several times. By the time the fight was over, he could barely lift his sword and he did not realize he had been injured until Darlac forced him to sit and he ripped open his tunic to expose a wicked slash across his back.

"My lord, you are burning with fever," said the clansman as he dabbed at the wound. "Could they have poisoned their blades?"

Amyr came to them then and Taeron tried to push him away, but he was in no shape to fight him. "I can heal the wound, but I cannot do anything about the other problem."

"Other problem?" Darlac asked. He narrowed his eyes at Taeron who lowered his head, hoping that he did not guess his affliction. But the other man was older and more experienced. ""You have recently mated. Why are you not with your mate?"

Because Amyr's healing power was new, it felt as if he were searing his back, but Taeron did not flinch despite the pain. "I have been separated from my mate," he told Darlac.

Fortunately Darlac did not question how that came to be. "I remember those first days,"he said with a shake of his head. "Even with my wife at my side, it was distracting. When she sickened with a fever, Lady Trynity came to heal her and she helped me was well with her potions until we could resume our relations."

"She is a miracle worker," agreed Taeron, wishing he could have a dose of her miracle now. His flesh had knitted but still ached and Amyr told him it would remind him to focus on the battle. Taeron managed to laugh when Amyr threw his own training words back at him although it cause him some discomfort. He needed help mounting his horse and refused when Jeshed, who had taken Yori to a safe distance when the fight began, offered to take him the rest of the way on the back of the dragon. Since Jeshed had difficulty controlling his horse, he returned Yori to Amyr who hid his son under his cloak.

They reached the palace at dawn, and by that time Taeron was feeling his illness acutely as well as the irritating ache from the wound on his back. He had barely come to a stop in the courtyard when his father came out.

"Where have you been?" He demanded tersely and then he noted Taeron's torn tunic. "Is that blood? Are you injured?" Taeron could barely remain in the saddle and Amyr and Darlac both came to help him dismount, but Lord Duo shoved them aside and Taeron was overwhelmed with emotion when his father held out his arms and then held him to his chest briefly after he managed to slide from the horse's back.

His father ducked under his arm and steadied him with an arm around his waist below the wound. "I don't think you have ever been injured."

"Stryfe injured me on Mars Colony." Taeron was able to laugh although the sound was weak and ended with him catching his breath from the pain. He did not tell his father about the time Amyr had tried to kill him on Norvana. That admission would not end well for Amyr who now lowered his head as he must have thought of the incident as well.

His father grunted. "Ah, yes, I remember him punching you in the nose. You were quite shocked by his dishonorable actions."

"Taeron has since realized that beating others with his fists is gratifying," remarked Amyr.

"Only gratifying when I am beating you," Taeron said.

His father frowned. "When Amyr is recognized again as crown prince, you may wish to curtail those activities. I don't think one of the duties of his imperial guard is physical chastisement."

"It should be," grumbled Taeron and he saw Amyr smile. Was he remembering the sound beating he had given the crown prince after he had betrayed Quynn and she had fled. Amyr had not denounced him then; he would not denounce him in the future because he knew that he would be on the receiving end of such a beating again only if he earned it.

Yori poked his head out from under Amyr's cloak. "Good morning, grandfather."

"Good morning, Prince Yori. Are you ready to surprise your other grandfather?"

"Is he really an emperor?"

"He likes to think he is," snorted Lord Duo.

Jeshed came forward. "Do you want me to take Yori?" he asked Amyr.

Lord Duo looked at him with his brows drawn together. "You look familiar even though I know it is impossible because you have come from beyond the frontier, but …." He peered past Taeron to Jeshed who stared at him without blinking. "Those eyes..." He shook his head. "Trynity will be arriving later today and she will be able to help you then, Taeron. She may have some information about your white-haired friend. I think she was planning to study his DNA today."

"She said that I made an excellent lab rat," remarked Jeshed with pride.

Remembering her clinic with many small white rodents that had been sent from the human colonies to aid in her research, Taeron smiled and he guessed that Amyr was trying not to laugh when Jeshed seemed so pleased with himself.

Instead, Amyr asked, "Does my father know about me? Did Stryfe tell him everything?"

"Stryfe only told him about Quynn and what she has been doing, leaving out details that I don't think Trey will want to hear from anyone but you."

Even though he had not actually dishonored Quynn, he had, point in fact done so in the trance they shared when he knew they had not gone through the bonding ceremony. Yet, how could Amyr be blamed when he thought he was having a dream? Lord Duo seemed to have forgiven them, but he was human and had not had the customs of Calabria impressed on him all his life. The emperor was raised a Calabrian imperial, so his forgiveness could not be as easily gained, not for Amyr and certainly not for Quynn. Looking at Yori, Taeron feared the future that awaited him because he had lived through it, and if Staefyn's vile accusations were any indication, he would never be free of the stigma of his father's rejection. Fatherless males had to work so much harder to overcome their mother's shame.

"He doesn't know about Amyr," Lord Duo said, "And he doesn't know about Yori, but I don't know how Arora could not know that Amyr has returned and she must have sensed Yori's presence. Alas, I did not get a chance to talk to her. Trey kept me at his side all day and I did not see Arora."

"She knew about Amyr," Taeron said. "I didn't understand until Quynn told me that he was alive why she gave me Amyr's sword. She meant for me to return it to him."

Lord Duo's lips pursed together in thought for a moment and then he said, "Now that I know you have Guerani powers, Amyr, I think you bonded to your mother shortly after your birth." He rubbed his face with his hands and scratched his head, proving to Taeron that the memory was disturbing to his father. "We did not know she was laboring during the attack on the palace the night of your birth, not when she fought like a lion to drive back Caron and his warriors, and when the battle was over and I went to her to report that we had cleared out the bastards, she was holding you in her arms."

Something about his father's story did not ring true to Taeron although he had heard it many times and had admired Lady Arora for her bravery in defending the imperial palace from house Caron.

"I don't think she did not knew about Amyr until I brought Amyr's sword back and she held it in her hands." Taeron told his father. Why would his father lie about the attack on the palace? And yet Taeron felt that he had.

"Ah, yes, a little magic in the sword." His father shook his head. "Over the years she has become as powerful as Dax although I do not often see her use her powers."

As for his father's story of Arora's bravery, Taeron did not want to point out that not having her mate with her when her child was born made the circumstances of Amyr's birth suspicious. He wondered if Amyr was considering the same thing in light of Staefyn's wild claims. A male who did not attend the birth of his mate's child did not claim it. Why had Arora not waited for Trey to be with her and why had Trey not made every effort to be with her, leaving her instead with his imperial guard? How many Calabrians questioned Amyr's right to follow his father? Did they believe Staefyn to be the true heir because he had been born into the emperor's hands?

As they got Taeron to a room so that he could clean up and change his clothing to meet the emperor, he thought about his own birth and how little he knew of it. His earliest memories were of the imperial palace, but he must have been born on the first moon where his mother had governed. Taeron had never thought about what his mother had done when the man that had fathered her child did not step forward to claim him, but he suddenly needed to know.

A guard came to escort them to the emperor, and after Amyr exited with Jeshed, hiding Yori under his cloak, Taeron hung back, closing the door so that he could speak privately to his father who stood behind him.

Reluctantly, knowing that the following discussion would be difficult for them both, he turned to face him. "I know that you cannot forgive me," he began, but Lord Duo cut him off.

"I would gladly forgive you if I believed that female cared anything for you. But I am sure that Sharisse was Balak's last hope of destroying the pact his queen made with Trey. She used you, Taeron, and it shocks me that you could fall prey to such a female. Trey believed that you were incorruptible, that the honor that the gods blessed you with would not permit you to stray from your duty. If he had thought it possible, he might have told you why the marriage was so important, but he did not want you to feel as though you were being used."

"I do not feel as though I have been corrupted," Taeron told him, pushing back the resentment that the emperor had bartered him to Teralon. What gave the emperor the right to determine the future of his house? Taeron wanted to make his life with a woman that he loved, and he could not have loved Princess Dijana.

He would never believe that Sharisse was the duplicitous creature they believed her to be. She had suffered too much, and if she was as they claimed, then she was a very dangerous woman. He deserved any punishment given for having been fooled, but it would not change his feelings for her.

Lord Duo sighed deeply. "When you fall in love, you lose all sense of right and wrong, Taeron. Can you even imagine the insanity of Trey challenging his father when he had only just come of age? His love for Arora drove him to it."

Trey had defeated Zeno on that occasion, so Taeron could argue that his love for Arora had made him stronger. Taeron would not say that to his father, especially not in light of his own circumstances. The gods surely had no hand in his feelings for Sharisse because they must be wrong when he had betrayed so many people.

"Let us get this over with. Trey is waiting and Queen Neria wants a pound of your flesh." Taeron wondered if that meant she would remove parts of his body, but then he realized it was one of those human sayings that probably meant she was going to punish him in some terrible way that would be worse than extracting a pound of his flesh. He deserved no less for being a fool.

But Taeron balked at leaving and Duo looked at him with his brows raised. "I have never believed you to be a coward, Taeron."

He felt like a coward now because he was embarrassed to ask the questions to learn what he suddenly considered important. "I need to know, father, who was with my mother when I was born?" Taeron knew in his heart that his mother would have sought Lord Duo at the most important moment of her child's life.

He was surprised to see his father's cheeks redden. "You have never asked."

"I am asking now."

"Now? Why would you ask such a thing now?" He reached for the door, clearly unwilling to answer.

"Staefyn told us that he believes the emperor is my father."

He turned slowly and met Taeron's eyes. "I am sorry, Taeron, but I was not with Larya. You know that I long maintained that you were not my son. That I refused her that last time when she came to me is a shameful act that I must live with for the rest of my life."

"Was I born on the moon?" This conversation hurt more than Taeron thought it would. If Queen Neria insisted on taking his life, he would go to his death knowing the circumstances of his birth.

"Now is not the time for this conversation."

Taeron had a sick feeling in his stomach. "I was born in the palace."

"Trey is not your father!" insisted Lord Duo, running a nervous hand though his own hair. "I was on the surface and despite her exile, she followed me and came to the palace that night, angry that I refused to acknowledge the child she was carrying."

He met Taeron's gaze and he saw as well as felt his deep sorrow. "I am sorry, Taeron, but how could I when doing so would have destroyed all hope of ever being with Trynity again? How could I take that woman into my house? She was just a whore that had used my loneliness against me."

Taeron ached as he realized that he was the product of his mother's desperation and his father's despair. Why would the emperor's imperial guard want anything to do with the whore that had tried to kill the emperor? Larya had seen Duo as a means to an end, but she had not gotten the end that she had envisioned.

His father continued. "I told Trey to throw her out, and then I found a bottle of brandy that Trey's mother cooked up and I drank it until I was puking drunk."

Taeron felt light-headed, and not just because of his condition. "The emperor was with my mother when I was born."

"Arora was there too," said Lord Duo defensively. "After everything Larya did to them for Xuxa, Arora knew you were my child and she did not want you to suffer. They both knew that Trynity was carrying Stryfe and Quynn when I left her behind, and Trey hoped that he could give you the protection of his house until I came to my senses. You were born into Trey's hands in my stead."

Taeron should have been proud of the honor the emperor had given him by bringing him into his house until Lord Duo accepted the responsibility, but now it was causing Trey trouble in ways he could not have foreseen. "Staefyn must have found out what happened. He thinks I am Trey's son."

"I don't give a gods' damn what Staefyn thinks! He is a conniving wasteland swine that I will gladly butcher for what he did at the fortress. There were dozens of boys there training, boys barely old enough to lift a sword and he had them killed!"

"The warlords may blame Trey for the deaths of their sons."

His father shook his head sadly. "It seems like only yesterday that we put down the last of the imperial rebellions. I did not want to see my children fighting other Calabrians." His gaze rested on Taeron. "I did not want them spilling their blood."

Taeron would not have spilled his blood in the first place had he not allowed a female to burrow under his skin. As he walked weakly behind his father in the direction of the emperor's private receiving room, he understood now why females had been placed in the Wastelands. Their power over males was dangerous despite their necessity for the survival of their race.


	33. Chapter 33 Trey's fury

**Chapter 33**

The other men were waiting on the other side of the door and Taeron could sense that Amyr was nervous to face his father after everything that had happened. Taeron did not know how Trey would react to seeing his son and he wondered if his wife had alerted him when she surely sensed his arrival with her powers. If she had, wouldn't he already have had Amyr brought to him? The fact that he did not bode ill for Amyr and for Yori.

Darlac, Amyr and Jeshed positioned themselves behind Taeron to stand in support of him while Lord Duo led them into the room when the guards swung open. His gait unsteady with his body burning with fever, Taeron's steps faltered a couple of times before he came before the emperor who was standing at a window, looking out over the imperial city that was bathed with the murky light of the rising first sun. His wife was not with him, and Taeron glanced at Amyr to see his reaction which was indistinguishable under the black face paint.

"You dare to enter with Meridon's men?" Trey nearly shouted, and Taeron realized the emperor was looking at Lord Duo. "That thrice damned bastard is no supporter of mine and yet this oath breaker brings his men to stand at his back!"

Lord Duo's brows raised. "You did not seem to mind overmuch that they liberated the Edgeland Fortress for you."

The emperor stared at Taeron's father with narrowed eyes for a moment before saying, "So this is how it is, Duo? Are you taking his side over mine?"

The bond between the emperor and his imperial guard was strong and for Trey to suggest that Lord Duo would choose anyone above him was tantamount to accusing him of betrayal. Amyr had tried to kill Taeron because he perceived his helping Quynn as proving more loyalty to his father's house than to the prince to whom he had made an oath.

"I am taking nobody's side," Lord Duo told him. "I have brought my son to you for judgment. These men understand what he has done, but they have fought with him and desire to remain by his side even now when he has lost his honor."

The emperor did not look away from Duo and his gaze was cold. "Who knew you could be so smooth-tongued, Duo? Then again, you did manage to charm a rattlesnake into your bed, so I should not be so surprised. Where is that rattlesnake's progeny? I have heard of her exploits and if I had not seen her cast fire magic myself, I would have accused the scribe of embellishing his tale with falsehoods."

"Stryfe would never lie to you," Lord Duo assured him.

"Yet, he left out so many important details that I am dissatisfied with his report." He motioned to the guards at the door with a flick of his hand and they opened it to admit Stryfe who appeared sheepish. "I hope you can record the details of this meeting to my satisfaction without leaving anything out this time."

"I will not fail you, my lord." Stryfe bowed low without daring to look at his family.

The emperor turned his attention back to Taeron who knew it was his turn to act. Dropping to his knees, he drew his sword and lowering his head, he raised the sword to the emperor. "I have broken my oath to marry Princess Dijana of Teralon. I have bonded with her sister, Sharisse."

The weight of the sword in his hand disappeared, but Taeron did not raise his head to see the emperor holding it. If he used it to remove his head, Taeron would gladly accept this as the will of the gods.

But the deadly stroke did not fall and the emperor did not wait long to speak after setting aside the sword he had once presented to Taeron. "I could not even imagine that you would fail in your duty, Lord Taeron, or I might have informed you of all the details of the treaty I accepted with Teralon. You liberated that planet from invaders; you drove out the fiends enslaving Varoonya, all at the point of your sword and the charisma that you wield with such deadly accuracy that men would follow you beyond gates of the netherworld. Yet you fell prey to the weakest of all opponents: a female!"

Tears would only add to his shame, yet Taeron shed them anyway, unable to stop them from rolling down his cheeks. Despite the turmoil, his finely honed senses became aware that the doors had opened and closed, and he detected the scent of a female, not the pure scent of the emperor's Guerani wife, but an exotic scent he did not recognize. He knew that it must be Princess Dijana's mother, Sharisse's mother.

"This is the hero of Varoonya, the liberator of Teralon?" her mocking voice added to his shame. "He weeps like a female entering her mating cycle."

The insult sliced through him, but Taeron had no control of his actions as the weight of his shame crushed him again and he wished this time the pain could be taken away, that Trey would use his own sword to end it.

"Stay away from him!" The emperor's voice boomed in the chamber.

Taeron raised his head to see that Amyr had taken steps toward him, his hand outstretched to offer him the comfort of his touch while Darlac hung back. For a moment he thought Amyr would rebel and touch him anyway, but when Taeron gave a slight shake of his head, he dropped his hand and stepped back. Taeron glanced at Jeshed and the strange man was staring at him intently, and when he met Jeshed's gaze the pain eased enough for him to regain some composure.

"Will you judge my son so harshly when we have all paid the price of love?" Lord Duo demanded of the emperor.

Trey glared at him. "Your opinion is irrelevant after everything you have done in the name of love, Duo. Abandoning Trynity when you thought you knew better? Doing the same to Larya when she asked nothing of you but to give her child a future?" He put his hand to his chest. "I raised Taeron! He is more my son than he is yours and I feel this dishonor deep in my heart!"

The two men stared at each other in uncomfortable silence which was broken when the woman who had entered stepped forward. Even if she did not have magnificent dark brown wings, Taeron would know who she was by her lustrous dark hair and blue eyes. There was only a vague resemblance to Sharisse in her lovely face, but she was undoubtedly Princess Dijana's mother.

"You can argue about which of you is responsible for his dishonor later." She came to stand before Taeron and she motioned for two winged guards to bring an ornate chest that was placed before him. "I had high hopes that you could save my heir," she began. "You saved my planet from invasion and liberated the palace, thereby saving my daughter's life. Who better to accept as her mate?"

Taeron had nothing to say in his defense. He wasn't going to tell her that he disliked her precious heir, the he had fallen in love with a woman that had deceived and seduced him.

"I never wanted anyone to know of my shame," said the Teralonian queen. "Certainly not the emperor of Calabria, but here I am thanks to you, warlord. When I came of age and took the throne, I was expected to take a warrior for my mate. There were two candidates deemed worthy by the elders. Balak and Nykos. Balak was strong, but he was hotheaded and I sensed something in him that made me turn to Nykos. I knew that he would lead the winged warriors while maintaining the proper respect for female rule, so I chose him as my mate. Balak could not accept my rejection. He came to my marriage bed and murdered my husband, after which he claimed me like the barbaric swine he has proven himself to be."

She sighed and shook her head with regret. "Of that night, Avar and Dijana were born, Avar his son and Dijana, Nykos' child. He tried to get the council to acknowledge my firstborn, Avar, as my heir, but they refused to set aside tradition and named Dijana as my successor. Not long after, he forced himself on me again, and after Sharisse was born, he had no more need of me, so he imprisoned me in the northern palace, far from my children, far from the council that could have helped me. It was only during the chaos of the Varoonyan invasion that I was able to send a message to the emperor to beg for help in taking back my throne."

"Balak has made alliances along the frontier," said Trey. "His ultimate goal has been to attack Calabria, and with Chaela as his son's wife, he planned to install Avar as ruler in my stead. With that in mind, he made a deal with Varoonya to attack Teralon, and during the invasion, Warlord Kai was to kill the rightful heir to Queen Neria, her daughter Dijana."

"But you liberated the planet," Queen Neria told Taeron. "And Dijana survived. So I begged the emperor to provide my daughter with a strong mate who could help her break Balak's control. I was sure that he had made the right choice. And when Balak received the emperor's order to surrender Dijana to the warlord he sent to claim her, he sent Sharisse with her because no man has ever refused her anything, no matter how foolish."

Now she sneered at Taeron. "You fell into her trap like the weak-brained Calabrian brute that you are."

The emperor cleared his throat.

Queen Neria sniffed but she did not seem repentant after expressing her opinion of Calabrian males. "What do you have to say for yourself, hero of Varoonya, now destroyer of Teralon? You may well have caused the death of my heir."

"I love Sharisse," was all that he could say. His honor was gone so he would tell them the truth, no matter how pathetic he sounded. "From the first moment I saw her, I could not resist her. The gods must have ordained for her to be my mate because they gave my heart to her."

"Then open the box. It is my gift to you for breaking your oath and leaving my heir without the protection you could have given her."

Taeron reached out with trembling hands, swallowing bile when he detected the faint odor of rotting flesh when he had barely lifted the cover.

"Balak no longer had a use for Sharisse. So he handed her over to Warlord Kai and this is what he sent me as a message to warn me what would happen to Dijana. I offer it to you, Lord Taeron."

His heart raced and his breath came out as shallow gasps as Taeron threw back the cover to reveal a rotting, dismembered head. For a moment, his gaze connected with the film-coated dead eyes, and he seemed to lose the ability to breathe. Hardly daring to believe what he saw, he reached out until his fingers sifted through the silky dark hair surrounding the face that he recognized even shriveled as it was so long after her death.

Then he pitched to the side, his stomach heaving and his head spinning. There was movement all around him, shouts of outrage and then he felt a cool healing touch on his face. Amyr had ignored his father's order to stay back to take Taeron into his arms.

He heard the queen say, "I am glad you are pleased, Lord Taeron. You may always have Sharisse with you now."

Amyr was holding Taeron against him as he knelt on the floor with him, but Taeron turned his head to look at the queen. "That is not Sharisse."

She sniffed. "I know my own child. That is the duplicitous female that Balak forced me to bear. They did not allow Dijana to visit me, but that disgusting whore came to the palace with Avar shortly before leaving to inform me how my plans would fail."

Stryfe moved forward and he winced at the grisly gift, and for a moment he did not say anything as he looked closer, and then he pressed his lips together as he swung to look at Taeron. Taeron was afraid Stryfe was going to laugh while his own urge was to scream in fury for the cruel deception of the woman he loved.

"Do you have something to say, scribe?" demanded Trey, his gaze narrowed.

His brother winced and with an apologetic grimace, he turned to the emperor. "I think what Taeron meant to say is that this was the female who presented herself to us as Princess Dijana."

The queen started and her face was white with the anger. "How can that be? Are you the scribe with whom my daughter and heir disgraced herself?"

Stryfe's humor faded away and he looked at Taeron.

Taeron would not allow Stryfe to take the blame for his weakness. So he pushed Amyr away after he helped him to his feet. He wobbled forward to face the queen. "When they boarded my ship, I could not know which female was Princess Dijana. I assumed ..."

She did not let him explain. "So Sharisse imposed her will on Dijana." The queen did not seem surprised. "Sharisse always coveted Dijana's birthright. I was told that Dijana was not beautiful, that Sharisse never let her forget that she did not have the beauty I gave to that bastard. Men overlooked Dijana and flocked to Sharisse, and Balak refused to allow any man to court Dijana when doing so would have meant surrendering his power."

She frowned. "But you could not be mistaken in their identities. Females of our planet have their wings removed at birth except for the ruling female and her heir. Balak had no choice but to stand by as Sharisse's wings were removed by the council when he tried to usurp Dijana's rights. But Dijana had her wings."

"Neither female had wings," Stryfe told her.

Her eyes shimmered with tears. "He took her wings! I cannot imagine how she suffered!" Taeron remembered the scars on Sharisse's – Dijana's back that he had not had the chance to ask her about. He did not want to feel sympathy for the agony she must have experienced in having her wings removed, not after the trouble she had caused her, but Taeron ached for her anyway.

Trey was watching Stryfe carefully and Taeron could see that the emperor's scrutiny unnerved him. Then the emperor said, "You have not satisfactorily answered Queen Neria's earlier question. Tell me, scribe, did you seduce her heir?"

Stryfe shifted nervously and looked at Taeron.

"I will hear what you have to say!" roared the emperor, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Lord Duo shifted so that he could protect his son if necessary.

"Princess Dijana – well, Sharisse – assumed that I was Taeron and..."

"I allowed her to believe it," announced Taeron. "I lied to her and I am at fault."

"No one is disputing that," said Trey with deadly calm when others gasped with surprise at Taeron's announcement. "You pretended to be your brother so that you would not have to marry a beautiful woman?" He shook his head as if he could not believe what he was hearing.

"I … I felt something for Princess Dijana," Taeron tried to explain.

Trey glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Queen Neria. "What is Balak doing with her now? Why did he not send her head as well?"

"He has not gained the support of all the males. There are many who still support the rule of females and they await my return so that I can take back my throne. If he cannot gain complete support, he will need Dijana to rule as his puppet."

"What of my daughter?" asked Trey. "What will you do to her when you return to Teralon at the head of an army that I must provide? She is Avar's wife and has given him a son."

The queen met his gaze with her chin raised defiantly. "Marriage to your daughter has emboldened those bastards. They will use her as a shield because they know you will hesitate to send warriors when doing so might put her in danger."

"I will tolerate no harm coming to Chaela and her son, Kaerwin," Trey all but shouted. He spun to look at Taeron. "You will return to Teralon and put down that rebellion, but you will bring my daughter and grandson back to Calabria."

"You think I will take this fool with me?" demanded the queen in outrage.

"Dijana is my mate," Taeron told her. "I will save her and accompany Princess Chaela and her son back to her family."

She glared at him with contempt. "You are not good enough for her."

"Not good enough for her!" Taeron cringed at Amyr's outburst. Now Yori scrambled out from under his cloak and scurried to take Jeshed's hand as his father strode to stand beside Taeron.

Trey stared at Amyr without speaking, watching with no emotion as Amyr removed his headdress and wiped the warpaint from his face with the cloth he had worn on his head.

Amyr was shaking with fury. "That detestable female is not good enough for Taeron! She is a blood-sucking Varoonyan thrall!"

The queen gasped in shock.

Trey did not react.

Amyr turned to look at his father, waiting for him to say something.

Lord Duo stepped forward when Trey remained silent. "I know this is a shock to you, Trey, but we could not say anything..."

"This is not a shock to me. Staefyn told me before I rode out to the Edgeland Fortress that Amyr would be there." Trey moved forward to stand before Amyr, but he did not greet him with the affection of a man who was given back a son he believed lost to him. "I am surprised you have the audacity to return."

Despite his own host of problems, Taeron felt pain for Amyr.

"I brought Quynn back with me as my wife," he told his father. He turned and held out his hand to Yori who came forward to take it. "This is our son."

Trey did not look at Yori, but continued to stare blankly at Amyr for several moments before speaking. "You are nothing to me." Turning on his heel, he moved away to stand before the window.

Lord Duo took a step toward him. "Trey? What is the meaning of this?"

Trey did not look at him. "I cannot expect you to understand, Duo. You can forgive Quynn for her shame and accept the man that caused her dishonor, but I cannot forgive my son and the female that has caused his." He turned his head to look at Amyr who had gone white with shock. "Meridon has accepted you into his clan. Meridon, a man that will not give me his oath, the most powerful of the zenoites. What am I to think when you come to the planet leading his men? I hope that you did not come here to challenge me, Amyr, because you no longer have the right. Go back to Ulfynaeus. There is no place for you here."

"And my son, your grandson?" demanded Amyr, finding his voice.

Trey turned back to look at the city, now bathed in the light of both suns, but he did not respond for a moment and then he turned to look at Amyr again. "You have made poor choices in the past, Amyr, and now I am asking that you make another choice. I cannot accept Quynn as your wife, nor the child as your son as we only have her word on that."

No male in the room could fault Trey for his judgment and they all expected it, but Taeron's heart fell and he could see that his father was upset as well. Yori did not seem to understand what was happening although he sensed his father's agitation because he had gone to stand with Jeshed who lifted him to hold him in his comforting embrace.

"So I ask you to choose now, Amyr. I will not accept you as either my son or my heir unless you reject that female and her offspring."

Taeron did not look at Amyr, but saw that his father was staring at Trey incredulously.

When Amyr spoke, Taeron could hear the desperation in his voice. "I can understand why you would do this to me, but you cannot mean to do this to your grandson and to the child my wife now carries."

The emperor did not look at him. "Use your new found Guerani powers to seek the truth."

Amyr took a step toward him, but then he fell back without touching him and Taeron saw the pain in his eyes. He was not sure if he was surprised that Amyr drew his sword, the sword of the crown prince, and while another man might fear his intent, Trey watched impassively as Amyr carefully placed it on the floor before turning on his heel to leave. He went to Jeshed and took Yori who was watching the adults with confusion, and without speaking another word, without even looking back at his father, he left with Darlac and Jeshed following.

"Is that it then?" asked Lord Duo with tightly controlled anger. "Your rejection has shamed my house!"

Trey looked at him. "Your daughter's rejection of my son shamed your house. She compounded the shame by bearing that child. I will have nothing more to do with them. Years ago you came upon my wife after she gave Amyr life. Now he is yours."

"That is not fair, Trey! You could not be here for Arora. There was an army between you and the palace."

"An army led by Meridon and his men, and now coincidentally he accepts Amyr into his clan? I wash my hands of him."

The emperor had become intractable, so Lord Duo shook his head and came to Taeron. "Let's go. He will come to his senses when he realizes what an ass he is. We will meet with Quynn at the fortress and return to the moon."

"You will not go, Taeron." Trey's voice stopped them. "You will remain here to gather the forces to go to Teralon to claim your mate."

"What of Staefyn?" asked Taeron. The room seemed to be spinning around him as his world changed. The calming effect that Jeshed had on him had dissipated, leaving him barely able to stand.

"He is safe at Guerani Palace in the mountains," Trey said. "His men are prepared to repulse any attack by rebels." His gaze rested on Duo.

"By the love of the gods!" shouted Duo furiously. "Are you that much of a fool? You stand there spouting honor and shame and Staefyn has turned against you!"

Trey's gaze was frosty. "I think we both know who has turned against me, Duo. I will allow you to return to the moon to plot and plan with Meridon, but I will keep Taeron with me as assurance that you will not move against me again."

Taeron was shocked by the conclusion the emperor had drawn. Or was it the fruition of a plan cultivated by a master of treachery?

"You can believe that of me after I came to the surface with my men to liberate the fortress?" Duo was incredulous.

"The fortress at which your wife recently spent several days dosing the men with who knows what vile concoction that turned them into mindless creatures? Staefyn told me that he questioned what she was doing and why she was there in the first place."

"Of course," said Duo with a sad shake of his head. "I think this is what is known as checkmate. Staefyn has played the game well." The emperor's imperial guard bowed low to him, and with a last regretful look at Taeron, he walked out.

When he was gone, Trey blew out his breath and he looked at Taeron. "I never thought he would turn against me."

"My father would never turn against you!" declared Taeron hotly.

"He is no longer your father. You are of my house now, Taeron." Trey retrieved Amyr's sword from the floor. "This belongs to Staefyn now."

Taeron was shocked that the emperor was claiming him for his house. Queen Neria had watched the proceedings without commenting, and even though she said nothing now, she cast a pleased gaze at Taeron who had done nothing to deserve it. Despite Princess Dijana's efforts to avoid him, Taeron was irrevocably mated to her.

Trey returned Taeron's sword to him. "Go to my wife. She has medicines to treat your ailment."

He was dismissed, so he sheathed the sword as he glanced with regret at the sword Amyr had surrendered. Taeron understood how Amyr could give up the sword which he had worn with pride for many years. He would do the same for the woman he loved.

The walk to the emperor's living quarters took longer than usual because he had to stop several times to rest when his knees buckled, and when he finally arrived, he found Lady Arora waiting for him with a potion already prepared. She did not speak in greeting, but he sensed her innate kindness and no hint of resentment when Trey's actions would lead to many questions about Taeron's birthright.

She led him to the sofa and helped him to lie down. "You should feel better after a few hours' rest."

Taeron's eyelids grew heavy, and he knew she was using her powers on him. "You do not ask about Amyr."

She said regretfully. "My husband believes that what he has done is unforgivable in the eyes of all Calabrians."

She was blurry in his vision as the potion began to work on his senses. When he awoke, he would be fit enough to lead an army, but now he was as weak as a newborn.

"He saved Shamara," he reminded her. "When doing so could have destroyed him, he kept her and she became the first princess. Why can he not accept what has happened to Amyr? Has Amyr not been punished enough by the gods?"

He thought he heard Arora sob, but he could not be sure because the potion took effect and he drifted into a painless, dreamless sleep.


	34. Chapter 34 Duo gains a son

**Chapter 34**

The first sun had not yet come over the horizon of the dark planet, so the second moon was dark with only faint light from distant Dagmaeus that was now receiving the first rays of the smaller sun. Sitting on the balcony during those rare moments of darkness, Amyr sighed as he looked up at the dark surface of Calabria looming in the night sky. His entire life had changed in the blink of an eye that day, and yet he had never felt more sure of himself. Five years ago he wanted to marry Quynn so that he could earn his father's approval; today he had lost his father by choosing her over him. Amyr would never regret laying his sword at his father's feet and taking his son away with him. And even though Quynn greeted his return to Edgeland Fortress with barely a smile because she was busy with the communications wiring, he could not have been more certain of her place in his life.

Lord Duo had arrived at the fortress shortly after, but Taeron was not with him, and he barked at everyone to board the craft to return to the moon. Quynn had protested that she was not done with her work, but her father told her to leave it for some other fool. Lord Duo had remained silent as they left the planet with the three transports filled with the men that had come to the surface to liberate Edgeland Fortress. After they had landed on the moon he had gathered his family together and he informed them of Trey's accusations.

"He believes that I planned the insurrection, that I am in league with the very men that he charged me to govern all these years." Lord Duo was pacing in his office, his wife standing by with her arms folded. He must have told her before his announcement because she showed little emotion. Amyr doubted she was surprised since she had ambivalent feelings towards the emperor.

Quynn was outraged. "How can he possibly believe that of you?"

"Staefyn laid the traps," said her mother. "And we stepped right in them."

"Staefyn told Trey that he believes my wife poisoned the men of Edgeland Fortress to turn them into the creatures we fought," continued Duo and Amyr was shocked that his father would believe Lady Trynity could have done that to the men and innocent children.

"Where is Taeron?" Amyr had asked. "Has he stayed behind in order to accompany Queen Neria back to Teralon?"

Mention of Taeron agitated Lord Duo and his wife put her hand on his arm to calm him before he could speak. "That is what he said, but one of the guards sent me a message before I left the city telling me that Trey has taken Taeron into his house. Because ...because of my foolish pride..." Amyr was shocked to see tears spill over Lord Duo's lashes. Lady Trynity drew him into the circle of her arms and it took a moment for him to compose himself before he was able to speak again, but there was sorrow in his eyes.

"Because I was the first male to come upon Arora when she brought Amyr into the world and Taeron was born into Trey's hands in my stead, Trey is repudiating you, Amyr, and taking Taeron as his own."

Hours later as he sat in the dark looking up at Calabria in the night sky, Amyr still felt the pain of his father's rejection. He could not blame Taeron as he might have scant weeks ago when he was a savage slave bent on revenge. Amyr had grown close to Taeron because of his powers and he knew that what his father had done must be causing him as great a pain as his own.

"I thought you might be sleeping."

Amyr turned his head to see his beautiful wife advancing from the darkness of their bedchamber. She was wearing a wispy white garment that clung to her curves and swirled around her to reveal more of her than it concealed as she came to him. Since she had spent hours with her mother while Amyr remained with Lord Duo, Jeshed and Darlac, Amyr knew Trynity must have provided the provocative garment. By the time she reached him, he wanted to tear the enticing cloth off her.

There was no need for him to respond to her remark because she had to know why he wasn't sleeping even without Guerani powers. She came to him and lowered her head to kiss him, not a chaste kiss, not a kiss meant to comfort him, but one that made him forget everything but her. Amyr wondered if all females were so bold with their mates. The females that had come to him as crown prince had done so to give him pleasure, but the one that now pushed the robe from his shoulders and straddled his hips to bring them together was not shy about using him to take her own. He stroked her with his hands, caressed her with his lips and when she was ready, he laced his fingers with hers so that he could experience her pleasure with his own. She collapsed against him, her heart pounding against his chest, her moist body pressed to his and he nuzzled her shoulder and breathed in the scent of his mate. There was nothing he wanted more than to be with her for the rest of his life.

Quynn cried out in pain and grasped handfuls of his hair in an effort to pull his head back when he sank his teeth into her, but he tightened his hold on her until he had swallowed a mouthful of blood from the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder. Closing his eyes, he waited for her anger when she had stated that she did not want him to bond with her, but she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck where he felt her hot tears.

"Why did you do that?" she sobbed. "You could have gone back to your father and told him that you made a mistake!"

He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back, then he tilted her face up with his fingers under her chin so that he could look into her eyes. "I did not make a mistake. Nothing is more important to me than you and Yori and the daughter you carry within you. Nothing, Quynn! I love you. I did not realize how much until he made me choose."

Amyr pulled her against him where she sobbed, and he could feel her sorrow at believing she had come between him and his family. He stroked her hair, reflecting on the joy of holding her in his arms, at the life inside her that his powers allowed him to feel. The bond he had made with her was beginning to simmer but it was not the conflagration that he remembered feeling the night he had given her his oath. He realized that if he concentrated, he could dampen it with his powers if need be.

Quynn raised her head and the first rays of light from the sun peeking over the surface of Calabria made her face glow. "I am sorry that I spoiled this night, what little there is of it."

He pushed back the tangled mass of silky curls and used the edge of his robe to wipe her face. "You did not spoil this night, Quynn, and there are still a few hours between first and second sunrise." Amyr lightly kissed her swollen lips. "Did your mother not tell you those are the most magical hours of the day?"

"She may have mentioned it," she said with coyness that made him smile. As he stood and lifted her in his arms, she slid her arms around his neck. "My father told me that Meridon asked that you meet with him tomorrow. After what you have done, will you be able?"

"I will think about Meridon after second sunrise." He kissed her as he moved towards the door opening to the balcony from the bedchamber, formerly Taeron's, which he now shared with his wife. "Much after second sunrise,"he murmured against her lips.

When he awoke, as he predicted, much later after second sunrise, Quynn was already gone, and his body reacted in panic to its mate's absence, but he took calming breaths, and after bathing and dressing in – what else – one of Taeron's garments, he went in search of Quynn's mother. Just to be sure he had no problems controlling the bond, he would request some of the useful powder that had worked so well on Taeron.

She was in her workroom with her husband and Jeshed, the former looking perplexed while the latter looked inordinately proud. Amyr guessed that since Yori was not with Jeshed that he was with his mother.

The three noticed him and Lord Duo left his wife to approach Amyr who resisted the urge to flinch. He was surprised that he hugged him, slapping him on the back when he thought he might be furious for bonding with his daughter in the old way instead of taking the bonding cup. "I suppose you are looking for Quynn. She has taken Yori for a horseback ride. I told her not to stray too far in case you might have need of her."

"I am sorry I did not go through with the ceremony."

Lord Duo grunted as he stepped away. "The only one who might give a damn about that doesn't give a damn anymore."

His wife laughed softly and came to put her hand on Amyr's arm. He was surprised to feel her faint healing magic. "She told us this morning what you did because the bite was mildly infected so I treated her."

Amyr was bothered that he had caused his mate pain, and he was annoyed that he had not noticed before she left their bed. Then again, she had exhausted him with her demands. "I did not mean to hurt her."

"What you did is natural for a Calabrian male. Do you think the men and women of the plains or the hills have en elaborate ceremony when they choose their mates like the imperials do? Those females sometimes suffer infection and I have treated a few mating fevers among the tribes on the moon."

He was mollified to hear that Quynn's illness was not a sign from the gods that they did not favor what he had done. Now he turned to Lord Duo. "Have you heard from Taeron?"

"The communications are still down," he told Amyr. "But I am sure that Taeron will be gathering his army to head to Teralon to put an end to the civil war there so that he can claim his mate."

"I would like to go with him," Amyr announced. He did not blame Taeron for his present circumstances. Perhaps later he might be crushed with the realization of what he had lost, the right to call the emperor his father, but for now he was content to be what he had always wished to be: Lord Duo's son.

"Do you think it is wise to return to Teralon?" asked Duo pointedly.

Remembering Princess Dijana's caustic remarks about his actions on Teralon, Amyr had to agree that it probably was not. "Taeron is my brother." With all that had come to light in the last two days, the words could not be truer in the eyes of Calabrians. "And if the emperor," it felt strange referring to his father as anything but his father, "if the emperor has truly taken him into his house, then I would be honored to stand as his guard."

Duo laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Not a single Calabrian would trust that arrangement, Amyr."

"I suppose not, but I would never harm Taeron and I would protect him as he protected me." He turned his attention to Jeshed who was sitting still as Lady Trynity peered into his eyes. "Is Jeshed ill?"

She straightened and looked at Amyr. "No. I am simply curious. My scientific mind cannot understand a magical creature like him, and I find that when I am near him, the magic that I have been able to learn Apolo is stronger."

Amyr was not surprised. He suspected that Jeshed was responsible for the rapid development of Yori's powers, and when Jeshed breathed on Taeron in the trance, he had undoubtedly bestowed on him the power that enabled him to make short work of the dark fiends that had overrun Edgeland Fortress. How could a shapeshifter be anything but a magical creature with great power?

"My wife has been able to tell me why his eyes are so disturbing to me," Duo said as he rubbed his neck nervously.

"Lord Duo is my father," announced Jeshed with no small amount of pride.

"Don't get carried away," barked Duo with annoyance.

Amyr looked at Trynity for answers because he did not believe that Lord Duo had been cavorting with a shape-shifting female to produce Jeshed.

She was smiling with what Amyr would term gleeful humor as she looked at the two men. "I have been able to study Jeshed's present genetic makeup. There are three of what he calls life strands that make up his form. The first, I could not identify and I presume it is the dragon form. The second and third strands belong to the genetic material he used to take his present form. He is the product of the life strands of my husband and..." She openly laughed. "... and Larya."

"That is not funny!" Lord Duo nearly shouted at his wife who now bent over laughing.

Amyr looked at Jeshed. "How is this possible?"

"I do not know. I have no one to guide me in the ways of my species."

"Well, he is now of our species although he can become a dragon which is what I find very fascinating," said Trynity after she was able to contain her laughter. "He must have somehow added Taeron's DNA to his own to become the form that he is today."

Amyr looked at Jeshed again, this time with this new knowledge and he was able to see the resemblance to both Taeron's parents. His white hair he took from Larya as well as his eyes while he was tall like Taeron and his father.

He looked back at Trynity. "Will he lose this form?" Jeshed had not been with them as a human for more than a few weeks, but Amyr had grown to like him and Yori adored him.

"I cannot say for certain, but in the last few days I have introduced many different strands to his blood, but it has not changed. I think his species must choose a permanent form as some sort of survival mechanism and this is the one he has chosen."

Amyr looked at Jeshed. "Why did you not choose to remain a dragon?"

Jeshed looked affronted as well as embarrassed. "Did you want that I should remain locked into the world of the bracelet? That had been created for me by the sorceress Malya and I do not regret leaving that existence behind." He looked at Lord Duo. "I am much happier in this form, in this life."

"I do not know how I am going to tell Larya about this in addition to what happened with Taeron." Duo sighed deeply and rubbed his face with his hands. "She will be arriving in a few hours for our monthly meeting. With the communications still out, Trey will not be joining us although I doubt he would have done so anyway since he thinks I am plotting against him."

"Trey must have sent technicians to repair it by now," remarked Trynity.

"They may need these." Jeshed reached beneath his tunic and pulled out a handful of blue cables and reaching in again, he produced several crystals.

Lord Duo snorted with laughter and put his hand on Jeshed's shoulder. "Welcome to the family, son."

Amyr was still smiling about Jeshed's overwhelmed reaction to Lord Duo's words when he rode into Meridon's camp several leagues from the palace. Jeshed had accompanied him so Amyr was forced to hear his chatter the entire way, but he was only as annoyed as a parent might be with an excited child. He pestered Amyr for details about his 'mother' and while he readily told him as much as he could about Larya, he was looking forward to witnessing Larya receiving the news that she had another link with Lord Duo. The two were like water and oil with only Taeron binding them. She could hardly be pleased that the handsome young man with flowing white hair might bind them even more.

Dismounting in Meridon's camp, Amyr glanced around to see that the women were scarce while the men worked at various activities that all pointed towards their willingness to go into war. Some sharpened blades, while others constructed or repaired weapons, and many men where sparring with each other. A boy hurried forward to take the horses and Amyr crossed the camp to the fire around which Meridon sat holding counsel with his eldest warriors as they shared a meal.

When he saw Amyr, the old warrior rose from the wooden bench he had been sitting on and went to greet him with a hug. He ordered one of the heavily veiled women to provide him with a mug of steaming tea and a plate of food for which Amyr was grateful. The female serving him met his eyes and he was startled to recognize Falida and he nearly spilled the hot mug of tea.

"You have bonded," she remarked in a low voice.

Women had a sense about such things so his nod was unnecessary.

"I spoke with your mate this morning," she told him. "I hope you are worthy of her and that beautiful child."

"I can spend a lifetime trying and still not be worthy of her." Amyr truly believed what he said.

Falida nodded. "Then I wish you well, my prince."

He was about to tell her that he was no longer her prince, but she moved away and despite the trouble she had caused him in the past, he decided that he would visit her mate before leaving the camp. His ability to heal was not yet refined, but there was no harm in trying to help the couple.

As he ate, Amyr observed Meridon listening to his men tell him of their harvests, the fruit of which was on his plate. There were some particularly tasty larvae that were seasoned with spices that Amyr realized were only available on Ulfynaeus. He wasn't surprised when Meridon brought up the issue of a trade embargo with the surface, and Amyr thought that missing a few spices from his meal was not going to make the emperor see reason, but Meridon's next words made Amyr realize how important Ulfynaeus had become to the empire.

"This morning we captured the shipment of healing leaves before it could be loaded onto the transport scheduled to leave for the surface. Even though the emperor accuses her of deceit, Lady Trynity is too softhearted when it comes to people in pain so she would not stop the regular shipment."

Amyr was not surprised that he was so ignorant of the trade between the moons and Calabria since he had never taken an interest in the day to day workings of the empire. But he learned now that living conditions on Calabria had improved greatly because of the herbs grown in fields scattered across the moon that were cultivated by the different clans exiled there. In addition to the spices and healing herbs, there were many fields of tea that the imperials now seemed to find indispensable.

"Does Lord Duo approve of this embargo?" asked Amyr.

Meridon snorted derisively. "When he comes to his senses he will, but for now he is acting with the foolish notion that the emperor will see reason."

"Perhaps he will," suggested Amyr.

"He will when he no longer has luxuries at his court," one of the warriors remarked.

"Or when his son has put his sword through his weak human heart," said Meridon.

Amyr did not want to hear the old complaints about his father. "The emperor is not weak. Did he not defeat you and banish you to this moon?"

The men around the camp growled and reached for their swords, but Meridon shouted at them to stay their hands and he looked at Amyr, fury on his craggy old face. "You dare to defend the man that repudiated you from the moment of your birth when he was not even there for you?"

He knew the truth now, and he was not afraid of these men. If they killed him, so be it, but he would not allow them to say these things about his father. "You kept my father from my mother's side," he said furiously, rising to stand over the older man. "You discovered where he was going that night and why and you moved to cut him off even though he commanded superior forces." Meridon's clan had been easily defeated, so the battle was barely a footnote in Calabrian history.

Meridon rose to face Amyr. "To keep him from making a foolish mistake. How could he know that the child in her belly was his and not Dilan's? I did him a favor."

Amyr felt sick to his stomach. "Were you doing that child a favor as well?"

"I did that child a favor two days ago when I took him into my clan." He reached out and poked Amyr in the chest. "You have people who accept you here regardless of who sired you and regardless of who you have taken as your mate." He spat on the ground. "Those imperials are corrupted by greed and pride in their ancient traditions. Because of those ancient traditions, he drove you away."

"You have your own traditions," pointed out Amyr, sweeping out his hand to indicate the females heavily veiled and staying just inside the huts but observing the actions and listening to the words of the men. "Your traditions are as primitive to us as our traditions are as corrupt to you."

By the silence that met his words, Amyr guessed that no one dared to speak to Meridon as he had done. Meridon stared at him, eye to eye, and Amyr did not look away. He blamed this man now for what had happened, for the rumors and lies of his birth, and while he could not blame him for his own selfish actions as crown prince, he certainly could not thank him for calling into question his right to be recognized as Trey's son.

"I was going to ask you to lead the men in an assault on the surface," Meridon finally said, not taking his gaze from Amyr's. "I can gather enough men to challenge the emperor after Lord Taeron leaves for Teralon. By the time he returns, we could have you installed as emperor and the imperials will have given their oath to you."

There was only one way the imperials would give him their oaths. "You would ask me to kill my father?" Amyr was appalled. No one could ever convince him to raise his sword to his father!

Meridon put his hands on Amyr's shoulders. "I would gladly have made you emperor, but I am more proud that you have refused the plan. You have become a man of honor."

"And the embargo?" Amyr did not want to think of sick Calabrians suffering without the medicines that Ulfynaeus provided.

Meridon shook his head ruefully. "You are as softhearted as Lady Trynity."

"I am a Guerani healer," Amyr told him proudly. "Take the medicine to the port for delivery, but not the tea."

Meridon chortled. "I can imagine those imperials whining about their precious tea."

Thinking of the calming effects of the precious leaves, Amyr was glad that he would not be at his father's court to hear how they would react to losing it. "I will inform Lord Duo of our decision."

Before leaving, he sought Falida's mate, Radzek, and found him instructing the younger boys on rudimentary sword handling. As Amyr watched him, he sensed the other man's longing for a son of his own and he hoped he could help him. Radzek noticed him and after instructing the boys to continue, he went to greet him with a low bow. After several moments of discomfort in which Amyr sensed that Radzek was not as enthusiastic as Falida to find another male to give them a child, he offered to help him as best he could. Many Calabrians were leery of Guerani healing, but Radzek readily agreed and after Amyr laid his hands on him, he sensed his affliction and he thought he might be able to help if he were more powerful. He told the hopeful man that if Lord Apolo accompanied his wife to Ulfynaeus this day, he would send him to the camp to use his considerable power. If anyone could heal him, Apolo could.

On the way back to the palace, Jeshed remarked, "I think you have surpassed your son in maturity now."

Amyr turned his head to look at him, but instead of being infuriated by the insult, he burst into laughter. Truer words were never spoken.

When they came into the courtyard and guards came to take their horses, Amyr noted the presence of extra men so he concluded that Larya had arrived. There was a group of children playing in the shade of a tree and one of the children jumped up, running to Amyr who seized him with his hand and swung him up to settle him on his shoulders. He smiled at Yori's whoop of joy.

 _You have finally mastered it._

Amyr was surprised to hear Jeshed's voice in his mind. _I was hoping you had lost this ability since you haven't invaded my head in a long time._

 _I did not lose the ability, but I have learned that it is an intrusion in your privacy._

 _Where did you learn that?_

 _I told him._ Now Yori's voice was in his head.

 _It is part of our training._

Amyr wondered who was training who and he heard both Yori's and Jeshed's laughter in his head.

Quynn came to greet him when he entered the palace and for a moment he had some difficulty controlling his need for her, but he managed to reign it in even though her body brushed against his when she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. "I was expecting you sooner."

By the teasing look in her eyes he knew she meant because of the bonding. Amyr leaned toward Jeshed who took Yori from his shoulders and set him on the ground. Yori nodded and hurried outside to rejoin the children as Amyr had suggested with his thoughts. He slipped an arm around Quynn's waist and drew her against him. "My magic has become strong enough to counter some of the effects of the bond."

She pursed her lips in disappointment for a moment before asking, "Does that mean I won't have you at my beck and call?"

Amyr smiled. "You already have me at your beck and call, but if you want the savage, bond-crazed Calabrian, I think I can easily summon him by releasing the magic holding him in check."

She tapped her lip with her finger as if she were considering his proposition, then she said, "Later. For now, father wants you to bring Jeshed to his office."

"Are you coming with us?" he asked with a smile, now anticipating how Larya would react.

"I would not miss this for anything!"

The moment he stepped into Lord Duo's office, the beautiful governor of the first moon turned whatever fury Duo had elicited in her on him. Her first shout of outrage had been about the clothing he wore which she had evidently sewn for her son with her own hands. She called him a selfish bastard for not recognizing the love she had put into creating the garment for her beloved son. Amyr wondered if she would kill him when she discovered that he had destroyed Taeron's trousseau. She blamed him for Taeron's present predicament, not finding any honor in the position the emperor had given him.

"He is using him as the shield his worthless firstborn could never be!" she concluded. "I do not believe for one minute that Trey has been fooled by Staefyn."

"He has," Amyr told her. "I sensed it in him."

Amyr should not have made any reference to his power because Larya's memory was not short. "Perhaps you should have used your Guerani magic to twist him to your will as you did my son on Teralon! You almost caused his death."

"Guerani magic cannot be used to sway anyone to do anything. I tried to drug him to make it easier to put him in a trance, but I could not initiate one and it made him susceptible to Staefyn's magic." The admission didn't sound any better aloud than it had in his head where he should have kept it.

She was staring at Amyr incredulously when Jeshed chose to speak up. "Are you my mother?"

Larya's mouth dropped open as she looked at Jeshed who waited only a fraction of a second before he crossed the room to pull her into an embrace that lifted her from the floor. Amyr's lips twitched with the effort not to smile, but Lord Duo was not as prudent. He burst into laughter that necessitated him sitting and Amyr saw both Lady Trynity and Quynn covering their mouths with their hands.

When she recovered her shock, Larya shrieked and slapped at Jeshed, finally kneeing him in the groin which made him fall to his knees and bend over in pain gasping for breath. Amyr quickly went to him and put his hands on Jeshed's shoulders to send a healing wave through him as he cast Larya a scolding glare.

She turned to look at her husband. "I do not know what this fool is talking about! I have only born Taeron to that idiot," she indicated a grinning Lord Duo with a wave of her hand, "and I have given you children. I do not know who this man is and why he has said such a thing."

Apolo looked at Duo and then at Trynity. "I suppose you know something about this."

Trynity smiled at him. "I don't know that I understand it myself, but you can touch him to ascertain the truth."

Amyr knew what he would find, which is exactly what Trynity had pointed out that morning and what Amyr knew to be true after touching Jeshed. But Apolo crossed the room to Jeshed who towered over him, now with that innocent grin on his handsome face, and he held out his hands for the elder Guerani to take. Apolo did not have to touch him for long to discover the truth and he glanced briefly at Larya, then at Duo before he squeezed Jeshed's hands.

"You are welcome to my house, Jeshed of house Maxwell."

"What!" shrieked Larya in shock, her eyes flying to Duo's face. "What manner of sorcery is this?"

Trynity sighed and crossed the room to put her arm around Larya's shoulder. "Come with me. I will explain what I can."

Amyr wondered if Larya was even capable of understanding Trynity's explanation.

"May I accompany them?" asked Jeshed eagerly.

Duo chuckled. "As much as I would enjoy the consequences, I think you should give Lady Larya a chance to absorb the news."

Apolo laughed outright. "Are you sure we should forgo the amusement?"

Duo put his hand on Jeshed's shoulder. "As strange as it seems, I will be the voice of reason. You should wait until Lady Larya seeks you out."

"What if she does not?" Jeshed showed the disappointment of a small child.

"I assure you that she will," Apolo told him, now serious as he sensed the same deep need in Jeshed as Amyr did. Quynn and Yori had been his only link to this world, so Jeshed had no one to call family. Because he had used Taeron to change his form, he had also put his hopes into adopting Taeron's family as his own and he was afraid that family might reject him.

"Come with me, Jeshed," suggested Quynn, holding out her hand. "Flying always calmed my nerves."

That brightened Jeshed and he took her hand to leave before Amyr could warn them to be careful. His warning would be unnecessary when Quynn had ridden on the dragon's back many times in the past.

 _Take care of her, dragon._

Jeshed did not respond so Amyr thought he might be affronted by the suggestion that he might not keep her safe.

"You met with Meridon?" prompted Duo, drawing Amyr's attention.

Reluctantly, Amyr told Duo about what transpired at the camp, leaving out no detail which prompted both Apolo and Duo to grumble with outrage at Meridon's actions so many years ago. They had not known that Meridon had deliberately prevented Trey from being with his mate that night.

"I was with Trey," Apolo said angrily. "I knew exactly when we should go and Meridon must have realized it, using my knowledge to keep Trey from being with my sister."

"Does it matter after all these years?" asked Amyr although he knew that it did matter to the imperials that could not accept him.

"It gives Trey the excuse he needs to deny you," said Apolo. "Staefyn had to have a hand in the sudden stupidity of the brother of my heart."

"Are you sure that you don't believe Trey's accusation about me?" asked Duo. "You are closer to him than I."

"Oh, after hearing what you said, I am waiting to hear how Staefyn has managed to blacken me and Larya. That my sister can allow Trey to be poisoned by Staefyn is a mystery. As for me, I have been suspicious of Staefyn for some time now. I am not surprised that he lied about a woman that did not exist to cover his obsession with Quynn. In the few times I saw them together, I sensed that he had feelings for her, but he managed to block my ability to read him. At the time I assumed I could not because there was nothing to read."

"How did Staefyn develop his powers without your help?" asked Amyr.

"We have discovered some Guerani texts hidden in the hills during the time that Dax the Demon hunted our people," Apolo told Amyr. "All such texts are usually sent to the palace to be studied."

Amyr nodded. "Stryfe mentioned reading the texts." He did not tell them that Stryfe had mocked him with his knowledge. Some day he would swallow his pride and ask the scribe to teach him to read so that he could study the texts of his ancestors.

"Staefyn could have learned from the texts, but it is more likely that he has not wasted his time in the hills. The ancestors have probably been teaching him for many years."

"Could he have learned a magic to make him more credible to Trey?" Amyr knew Duo wanted to believe that Trey had been bewitched.

"I am sorry, Duo, but Trey has been manipulated by a man and not by magic. He has always been close to Staefyn, and I don't know what it would take to make him realize that he cannot be trusted." Apolo looked at Amyr. "I think it is because there was always distance between him and Zeno, a necessary distance when he would have been required to end his life. And while that practice has been abolished, he was harder on you because one day he expected you to rule Calabria."

"I disappointed him," Amyr said sadly.

Duo made a sound of disgust. "You disappointed him? The son he trusted sold you into slavery before you had a chance to prove your worth." He sat back in his chair and blew out his breath in exasperation. "And now that snake is whispering in his ear, waiting for a chance to strike."

Apolo went to him and put his hands on his shoulders. "I know you are worried about Trey, but Staefyn cannot move against him until he has enough support from among the warlords. He may have taken Taeron into his house to keep you from acting against him, Duo, but he has inadvertently blocked Staefyn."

Duo grunted in agreement. "Staefyn had not bloodied his sword and there are many warlords who would not follow him because of it. If Taeron does not accept him, those warlords would not either."

Apolo nodded, but there was a grim line to his lips. "I am guessing that Staefyn's contacts on Teralon are under orders to keep him from returning to Calabria."

Amyr felt anxious for Taeron and he looked at Duo. "Please let me go to Teralon to help him." There was every reason for him to believe that Taeron would not need his help, but Amyr wanted to be by his side when he claimed his bride. He knew that Taeron was angered by Dijana's deception and he could not imagine that she would be any happier to learn his identity. Having entered that dark tunnel, he might have some advice to help guide Taeron to the light without the stumbling Amyr had done with Quynn.

"Are you up to doing this?" asked Duo with a brow raised and Amyr knew he was referring to what he had done the previous night.

Apolo put his hand on Amyr's shoulder before he could respond. "As his power grows, his bond will weaken until it no longer exists." He looked at Amyr. "The love of your Guerani heart will be stronger than the Calabrian mating bond ever was, but it will never cause you pain."

Duo crossed his arms over his chest. "Why do I get the feeling you Guerani get the best of both worlds?"

"Because we do," said Apolo with a laugh.

Duo snorted. "I have nothing to complain about with Trynity. As for you, Amyr, Quynn will have to pilot the ship. Staefyn will be watching us and he will send those gliders after her again. She is the only pilot that can deal with them effectively."

"I envy your confidence in her," said Apolo. "If she were my daughter, I would be frightened into forbidding her from piloting that ship."

"If you had been in that ship when she took it to the planet, you would not be concerned." Duo shook his head and Amyr could sense his pride. "She's a damn good pilot."

"We will be ready when Taeron needs us," Amyr told them. He hoped it wasn't too soon because he wanted to have a real honeymoon with his wife and he was quite sure that she would agree.


	35. Chapter 35 Trouble in the imperial house

**Part Two: Lord Prince**

 **Chapter 35**

As his consciousness returned slowly, Taeron became aware of voices that at first sounded as if they were far away, but he realized that they were very close. As he became more awake, he recognized Lady Arora speaking, but never in all the years he had lived with the imperial family, had he heard this terse edge in her voice. Her soft, placid voice usually served to calm and comfort her husband and children. Now her anger distressed Taeron.

"... and without so much as consulting me!"

"Since when is the emperor required to consult with his female on the actions he makes for the good of Calabria?" Taeron could not believe he was hearing the emperor speak so furiously to his beloved wife.

A moment of silence followed his question, silence that stretched until Taeron wondered if they had left. He was uncomfortable now that he had come fully awake on the sofa that was too small for him, and he was even more uncomfortable to be listening to a private conversation – no quarrel – between the emperor and his wife.

Then Arora answered him, her tone low and ominous. "I am hoping I did not hear you correctly."

More silence. Taeron did not even dare swallow because he feared they would hear him gulping and he did not want to interrupt them. He was no stranger to arguments between mates. Although his father was not married to his mother, he had heard them arguing often enough to believe that it was a normal part of male-female interaction. Lord Duo openly squabbled with his dear wife Trynity, but Taeron had never heard the emperor speak to his wife in any but the most loving manner.

"You heard me correctly, woman. I can make decisions on my own, especially a decision of this nature."

Taeron did not recognize this overbearing male. He hoped Lady Arora did not still carry her imperial sword.

"You locked me in here as if I were a prisoner!" That explained why she had not been with the emperor to receive them.

"You were not locked in," he scoffed.

"There was a guard at the door and he would not let me leave!" Her fury made Taeron squirm.

"That was for your own protection!"

"Since when do I need a guard to protect me?" Now she sounded affronted as well she should, since Lady Arora was still considered one of the finest warriors of Calabria. "And from what were you protecting me?" When he did not answer she made an enraged sound. "And when you had me trapped in here, you threw our son out as if he were rubbish! How could you refuse to listen to him, to accept him back?" Taeron realized that she had not been as accepting of her husband's decision as she had seemed.

"To accept him would mean I must accept Quynn, and that I could not do, not after what she did to Amyr. Amyr made it quite clear that he chose her above me." Taeron heard a clatter and he peered around the edge of the sofa to see that the emperor had dropped Amyr's sword at his wife's feet. He ducked back before they could see him, but not before he saw the dismay on Arora's face.

Then she made a sound of exasperation and Taeron cringed. He did not know how the emperor had the audacity to speak to his mate as he did and not expect a woman like Lady Arora to retaliate. "He loves her and has made a child with her. What did you expect him to do after you gave him such an ultimatum?"

"He has only her word that the child is his! Amyr was not with her to claim that child. By the gods, woman! There is no possible way for him to be that boy's father!"

"Why did you not ask me?" she demanded furiously.

"Staefyn told me that Amyr was alive and that he was returning with the child Quynn claimed was his. He said that you would lie to protect Amyr. He was right! You are protecting Amyr without even knowing the facts."

Taeron grew hot with fury to hear that Staefyn had the temerity to sow dissension between his own parents. Why should that surprise him? Staefyn had meant to kill Amyr, engineered Lord Duo's disgrace and was plotting to murder his father. The bastard must be patting himself on the back for having the power to make Trey doubt his loyal wife.

"My own son said that of me and you listened?" Arora was rightfully indignant. "What else did he tell you? Did he convince you that Amyr is not your son, that I have lied to protect him all his life? Has he questioned the circumstances of Shamara's birth? Perhaps I have played you for a fool all these years and only now Staefyn has convinced you of it."

The emperor made a sound of disgust. "I know the truth." He did not deny Arora's accusation about Staefyn. How could Trey listen to that bastard's lies and not see through him?

"Do you? You were not there when Shamara was born. I delivered her into Apolo's hands. For all you know, he is her father! Or perhaps I did act as Dilan's concubine in the years we were parted as many have claimed."

"Do not even say such things!" he roared with anger. "Do you think it pleases me to hear them question the paternity of my children? How can you not know how enraged it makes me to hear them slander you? There are days when I want to go out there and cut off all their heads!"

"Yet you have used Quynn as the excuse you need to appease the imperial nobility," continued Arora. "Those disgusting wastrels live on the bounty of your rule while reviling you behind your back because of your human heart, the Guerani Wasteland whore you have taken as a wife and the son they call a bastard."

Something crashed and Taeron raised up quickly to look over the back of the sofa because he feared for Lady Arora, but he saw that Trey had thrown an elegant vase against the wall. Since they did not see him, he ducked back down, his heart racing with indecision. They would be embarrassed to realize he was listening, and yet he had never heard them discuss their feelings about the imperial nobility.

"Does that make you feel better?" goaded Arora. "I only wish breaking the pottery can ease the ache in my heart after what you did without even telling me your plans, after hearing you say that my own son has questioned my loyalty to you and your house and you did not defend me, but in fact, chose to believe him and imprisoned me here under the guise of protecting me."

He did not respond to her, and she continued. "But I am only the mother of your children, a female of your house, so I should expect no more of you. What shocks me even more is what you have done to Duo. He gave you his oath and he has proven again and again that he is willing to lay down his life for you, and yet you have, this day, accused him of a terrible crime against you. What has Staefyn told you to convince you of his guilt? What do you expect Duo to do now? How could you take Taeron from his house? Did your crown prince suggest that Duo will gather the clans on Ulfynaeus that already hate you because of me and lead them here to regain his honor and his son?"

"If he does not, you can be thankful that he is human and not Calabrian because without him to lead the imperials, imperials that may feel more loyalty to him than you, you would stand no chance against him. The warriors will follow Taeron and you cannot believe that he would ever raise his sword against his own father."

"I am his father now!"

"Your imperial customs are stupid!" she shouted at him. "Just because you were with Larya when he was born does not make you his father. I am quite sure you know what does." She fell silent for a moment and then said, "How do I know that was not planned? After all these years, is there something you want to tell me? Is this your way of confessing to betraying me with the white-haired harpy?"

Trey made a choking noise and Taeron was shocked that she could even suggest such a thing. "You have lost your mind! Larya and me?"

"I am perfectly lucid while I suspect you have eaten one too many under cooked sandslugs if you can believe those sycophants at court will not draw the same conclusion that I just accused you of. Do you think I will stay here and suffer their ridicule after all I have had to endure?"

"I did not lay with Larya," he stressed.

Taeron heard her footsteps away from the emperor. "I am taking the children to the moon and we will stay with Apolo until you have come to your senses."

"Please, Arora, do not leave! I need you." The desperation in Trey's voice made Taeron's heart ache in sympathy. It was how he felt when Mordrad had taken Sharisse – Dijana - from him.

"I am sorry, Trey, but I cannot stay here and watch you be manipulated. You did not listen to Amyr, you would not even hear Duo and you have allowed our son to accuse me of dishonesty. Maybe Apolo can convince me to forgive you, but at this moment, I do not think I ever can."

Taeron could not remain silent any longer. He dragged himself up and while Trey was surprised to see him, Arora must have known he was conscious because she merely raised a brow as if to ask him what had taken him so long to show himself.

"You cannot go to the moon!" His voice was hoarse from the medicine she had given him.

Trey put his hands on his hips and glared at him. "This is none of your concern."

Taeron straightened and met the emperor's gaze. "You took me into your house, and as a male of your house, I respectfully forbid Lady Arora from going to the moon."

"Do you suspect me of some foul plans, lord prince Taeron?" she asked with a curl to her lip.

"Never! But I do not trust Staefyn and I believe he may have anticipated your reaction." He looked at Trey. "You did not allow my father to explain all that Staefyn has done, how long he has been planning this rebellion."

"Staefyn? Staefyn does not have a rebellious bone in his body!" scoffed Trey.

Arora put her hand on her husband's arm and Taeron hoped her touch would make him amenable to reason. "I think we should hear what Taeron has to say, what Duo would have said had you given him the trust he has earned as your bonded imperial guard."

Taking a deep breath, Taeron began his story with the day of Amyr and Quynn's oath ceremony and ending with Staefyn's threatening call to Quynn on the night of their return to Ulfynaeus. He told them everything they suspected Staefyn of doing, how he had befriended the notorious Warlord Kai and probably aided in the Varoonyan assault on Teralon and might be sheltering him in the Guerani Palace now.

When he had finished, Trey was frowning. "Do you expect me to believe any of that?"

Arora frowned at her husband. "Staefyn did not give you a good reason for leaving Varoonya and returning to Calabria. You did not even question his excuse that he wanted to tell Duo in person that Taeron's ship had experienced difficulties and was lost beyond the frontier."

Trey did not respond so Taeron guessed he was feeling foolish to be deceived by his son.

"Stryfe has diligently recorded all the details," Taeron told him. "After he has read the official account, you can judge whether I am right or wrong. We had hoped that we could keep Amyr's presence a secret, but Staefyn already knew."

"I am angry that Staefyn would accuse me of lying to my husband, but he is a male and males band together against females," said Arora with a resentful glance at her husband. She looked back to Taeron. "Staefyn had much to lose with Amyr's return, but it is difficult to believe that he would plan an insurrection." She shook her head. "And you tell me he has my powers? I have never felt it in him, but I sensed Amyr and his son the moment they arrived on Calabria."

"Yori." The emperor grunted. "That is the child's name? You say that he was conceived during a trance that Staefyn initiated? How do you know that Staefyn is not the boy's father?"

"I heard both Amyr's and Quynn's accounts of what they believed was a dream when they told Stryfe, and they were identical. Staefyn was not a part of it." said Taeron. "He tricked Amyr into bonding to Quynn, and then he dragged him into the trance where he intended for him to die suffering in his separation from his bonded female."

"That would have been a terrible death." Trey glanced at his wife. "Even though Dax had tried to strip me of the bond, when you found me on Earth it came back, and after we had been together, the pain of your loss made me wish for death." He did not speak for a moment and Taeron saw the tears in his mate's eyes. Taeron certainly understood the despair as well as the physical pain that only Lady Trynity's medicine could keep at bay. He suspected that Lady Arora had a supply on hand for her husband's use because his duties frequently took him from her side as she remained at the palace.

"Why do you forbid my wife from going to the moon? What do you expect will happen?"

His suspicions were awful, but he needed to tell them in order to keep Lady Arora safe. "Staefyn will send the Varoonyan gliders after the imperial shuttle. By destroying it, he will weaken you and remove obstacles to his challenge to your reign." He glanced at Arora whose hand had gone to her heart in shock. "I am sorry, my lady, but I believe Staefyn has lost his mind."

Trey stared at him speechlessly, but when tears began to roll down Arora's cheeks, he drew her to him with trembling arms and held her close as she wept. When he met Taeron's gaze over her head, he saw tears glistening in the emperor's eyes as well. "How can I believe that of my own son?"

Taeron was incredulous that Trey clung so tenaciously to the belief that Staefyn might still be innocent. "You have taken me into your house," he reminded them again. "Allow me to handle this matter."

Trey was reluctant, but Arora convinced him to trust Taeron. He was not sure if Arora believed him completely either, but Taeron was confident that he could trick Staefyn into proving his guilt. Following Taeron's instructions, Arora stayed in their private apartments to prepare for her trip to the moon in only two day's time. Trey called Stryfe to him and they listened together to the official account of what had happened after Taeron left to meet with Princess Dijana which included the information that Stryfe had gotten from Amyr about what had happened to him.

That afternoon Trey announced to his court that he had taken Taeron into his house, and the nobility was predictable in spreading their malicious lies and gossip concerning the emperor and Larya. The following day Taeron took over some of the duties of an imperial prince, explaining that there was some discord between the emperor and his wife. News that Arora was furious with her mate spread like a wildfire through the court, and with Taeron now addressed as 'lord prince', few were either surprised or dismayed by the announcement that she was heading to the moon. There was even speculation that she might be taking her sword to rid herself of a rival, and when Taeron told her, Arora thought it amusing.

In preparing for her trip, Taeron was glad that Keldar and Danlaer had not returned to the moon with his father because he trusted them. They had been busy preparing the half dozen hyperspace craft for the trip to Teralon when he took them aside so that they could not be overheard. He asked them to outfit the emperor's shuttle for autopilot control and to plot a course for the first moon. They had already heard that gracious Lady Arora was angry at her husband, and since they had come to admire Amyr during their training sessions in the trance after leaving Norvana, both men volunteered to pilot the shuttle that would take her away from her intractable husband. Taeron trusted them with the truth, and since they had been innocent victims of Staefyn's perfidy, they agreed enthusiastically to follow his plans to expose him.

The day that Arora was scheduled to leave, the emperor escorted her to the space port along with their three children, two daughters in varying ages every bit as beautiful as their mother and older sisters, and their youngest child, a son who was younger than Yori and who sucked on a finger obliviously as his father kissed him in farewell. The shuttle was positioned so that when Arora boarded on one side with her family, they could exit through the cargo bay without being seen on the other and they were led into one of the hyperspace crafts nearby where they would hide.

Taeron stood with the emperor and watched as the shuttle took off, guided remotely by Danlaer from inside the hyperspace craft.

Watching the empty shuttle grow smaller and smaller, the emperor remarked, "You are wrong, Taeron, and Apolo will laugh when the shuttle arrives empty."

The shuttle disappeared into the atmosphere, but only moments later an explosion rivaling the light of the second sun brightened the sky. Trey stumbled back in shock, grasping Taeron for support, knowing that his faith in Staefyn would have meant the death of his wife and children if Taeron had not been there to protect them.

Almost immediately after the explosion, the hyperspace craft roared to life, and Trey spun to watch as it shot into the air to quickly clear the atmosphere. "Where are they going?"he demanded, seizing Taeron's shoulders. "Have you betrayed me?"

Taeron did not take offense to his accusation when he knew that Trey was in shock, but he had chosen not to tell him of his plans regarding Lady Arora because he feared he might let them slip and Staefyn would learn of them.

"Danlaer and Keldar are taking them to Bayman. The debris from the explosion should mask their escape from any sensor sweep from Guerani Palace."

"By the gods, Taeron, you should have told me!" Then Trey ruefully shook his head. "No, you were right not to tell me. Did my wife know?"

"We planned it together. There was the possibility that Staefyn would detect the second craft, so I did not want her to go without knowing the risk. We knew that you would forbid it, but I do not believe she is safe on Calabria now."

The ship had been gone long enough to prove that Taeron's guess about the sensors was correct because there was no explosion. He did not fear any gliders at the pirate satelite because the ship would travel through hyperspace to reach Bayman. The Varoonyan crafts would not be able to catch it even if they were warned of its escape from the surface. Fortunately Bayman was close enough to Calabria in its rotation around the second sun to be only a few days away, so they would not have to travel long.

Although wracked with guilt and horrified by his son's actions, Trey had a role to play and if he could not play it well because of his relief that they yet lived, given his decision to take Taeron into his house and the strained relations with his bonded mate, his inappropriate lack of grief was attributed to a more sinister cause. He delegated the running of his government to Taeron while he retired to the privacy of his chambers to mourn, but the damage had already been done. Many believed that the son of Zeno had murdered his own wife and children.

Trey did not speak of the rumors, and while Taeron did not speak of the calumny, Stryfe kept him informed of what the imperials said while he was closed away. Rather than vent his anger on the imperials, he became focused on capturing Staefyn.

"When he comes to honor the memory of his mother and siblings, we will take him into custody," Trey said the evening before the ceremony. "With communications out, there is no way to tell Apolo what has happened, but I trust he can sense that she is alive and well."

"Staefyn may sense her as well ," suggested Stryfe.

"She told me that she would mask her powers, as Staefyn has done for who knows how many years." He shook his head ruefully. "Knowing about his powers has made me question everything he has ever said and done. Has he become Dax?"

Taeron's instinct to deny such a thing died with a sharp pain in his head. When Trey saw him wince he suggested that he had been working too hard, that between the separation from his mate and all the mind-numbing duties at the imperial court, he was not getting enough rest. The explanation was reasonable, but Taeron had a fleeting thought that something else was to blame.

There were no bodies to burn in the funereal rite, and after the brief ceremony before the court announcing the passing of his family, Trey retired with the only other person of his house on the surface, Taeron. By tradition, this was the time that the family would share stories to celebrate the life of the person who had gone to be with the gods. Instead, Trey paced like a caged lion, outraged that Staefyn had not once responded to the messages he had sent to Guerani Palace about what had happened. His absence from the ceremony did not go unnoticed by the imperials who openly speculated that the crown prince was proving the contempt he felt either for the Guerani whore who had given him life or the sire who would murder her. Taeron wondered if Staefyn had a hand in spreading the rumors of his father's guilt in her death.

The evening after the memorial, Stryfe had come to share a meal with them and related all that he had been able to learn in speaking to various imperials of the court. There were many who had never approved of Arora because she had been set in the Wasteland by her father where she should have died. Those same nobles would have been as happier had Trey done the same to Shamara. Taeron wondered how many generations would pass before those people would accept the changes he had made on Calabria.

Before the end of the meal, the communication system indicated an incoming call and when Trey pressed the button to answer it, Staefyn's holographic image appeared before his father.

"I beg your forgiveness, father, for not coming to mother's memorial." He seemed contrite and sincere, but since Taeron knew the truth, he was appalled by his audacity and wondered how Trey could keep his temper in check.

Trey stared at him silently for a moment and then said, "I am sure that you have a good reason."

"Several days ago the rebels knew that I would be leaving, so when the gates opened, they attacked and I barely escaped with my life."

"Is that so?" Trey folded his arms over his chest. "Did you manage to kill any? Have you finally blooded your sword on the traitors?"

Staefyn shifted as he stared at his father as if he were considering what he could say next to cajole him, and then he pressed his lips together and dropped the act of penitent son, reverting to the self-assured bastard that he had shown Quynn and Taeron, "Perhaps if I carried the sword of the crown prince, I might have, but you have not sent it to the palace."

Trey snorted derisively. "Did you want me to strap it to the back of a pack horse to send it up to your palace?"

"You had it strapped to the back of an ass for many years father."

Taeron burned with fury at his disrespect for Amyr, but Trey did not respond to the insult. "I am more interested to hear what you have to say about the shuttle explosion that killed your mother, your sisters and your young brother."

"Maybe you should ask Lord Duo about that," suggested Staefyn. At least he was smart enough not to accuse his own father.

Trey rubbed his hand over his face and then glared at the holographic image. "And maybe you would be able to tell me how Lord Duo could have known about your mother's trip to the moon when communications have not been restored at Edgeland Fortress."

Staefyn put his hand to his chin for a moment before giving an alternative theory. "Did he not send a shipment of healing herbs to the surface? They must have returned to the moon with the news."

"The cargo ship did not return to the moon until after the shuttle explosion," Trey told him. "You will have to do better than that if you have any hope of my believing you."

His son threw up his hands. "I am all out of excuses, father. I guess I will have to take credit for what you have done."

"You lying bastard!" Now Trey was outraged that his son would accuse him to his face of arranging the death of his beloved wife and children.

"Really, father? I seem to be the only one who is not a bastard and yet you have passed me over repeatedly, first for Amyr who is not even your son and now you have taken that gods-cursed bastard Taeron into your house."

"Did you really hate your mother so much that you wanted her dead?"

"Dead, father? Do you really think I could be so easily fooled? She is a difficult female to be rid of. Dax put her in the Wasteland where she should have stayed, but she crawled out of there to shame her own house. Do you think I feel honor to be her son?"

Trey was struck speechless by the venom in his son's voice. Taeron expected it, so he crossed the room to join the emperor. "You have no honor, Staefyn of no man's house."

Staefyn snorted derisively at him. "Which is worse, Taeron? Belonging to no house or belonging to three because your mother is a whore who could not even know who sired her bastard? I knew the day would come when my father owned his betrayal of my mother and their bond, but it matters not because I am the crown prince. I will not let you stand between me and what is mine by right of birth."

His bravado almost made Taeron laugh. "You can try to get past me, sorcerer, but we both know the outcome of that combat. And I will never allow you to raise your sword to your father."

There was suddenly surprise on Staefyn's face and Taeron was aware that Trey was staring at him instead of his son. Taeron had no way of knowing what they saw, but he could hear Stryfe chuckling so he guessed the golden light they claimed emanated from him was now doing so.

"You call me a sorcerer?" Staefyn was sputtering, but he said no more as the communication ended when it looked as if he had more to say.

Taeron looked at Trey and ignored his wide-eyed stare. "Someone was with him and prevented him from speaking."

The emperor did not respond except to reach out and touch Taeron. "I was told of this, but I did not see it that day at Edgeland Fortress. What is this?"

Stryfe crossed the room and he announced proudly, "Taeron is a holy paladin."

"Oh!" Trey clapped his hands together. "I am dreaming! I thought perhaps this was real, but fire sorceresses, holy paladins, zombie warriors, Duo turning against me, my wife murdered by my son … these all have the makings of a virtual game dream. Am I going to wake up to find Heero Yuy finishing his game?"

Taeron raised a brow. "Have you gone mad, my lord?"

Trey sighed and put an arm around him. "I went mad a few days ago when I threw my son out on his backside without even looking at my grandson. But I don't regret taking you into my house despite what Staefyn says. You belong to three houses because we are all so very proud of you, Taeron."

"I love my father," Taeron told him. "Do not ask me to give up the honor of belonging to his house."

"I regret my rash decision," Trey told him with a rueful smile. "But I have need of you now and will not rescind my decree. Lord Prince Taeron, I need you to prepare the defense of the imperial city before taking your men to fulfill the terms of the treaty with Teralon. Get Queen Neria off Calabria before she offends every imperial at court."

Stryfe snorted with laughter. "She is off to a great start since more than half the imperials avoid her presence. I am surprised she wants a Calabrian warlord as a mate for her daughter when she views all Calabrians as bloodthirsty savages."

"If she can clear a room of those jackasses with her mere presence then she is worth keeping around," muttered Trey.

While Queen Neria was sympathetic to what was happening on Calabria, she did not hide her annoyance that Taeron's trip to Teralon was delayed by the tragedy that had befallen the emperor. She was mollified by his promise to leave a few days after the memorial service for the imperial family. Despite his ambivalence towards the woman that had lied to him, Taeron wanted to claim his bride as soon as possible, but he was not going to ignore his obligations on Calabria.

"I have already gathered enough men to insure a speedy victory on Teralon," Taeron told Trey. "We don't need to be bothered by Queen Neria for much longer."

" _We_ won't," chuckled Stryfe with a wink at Taeron who was aggrieved to realize he would never be free of the arrogant female.

Trey smiled at Taeron. "I am assuming that you no longer have an objection to Princess Dijana, given that you have bonded and mated with her," He looked at Taeron's brother. "How did you put it in the official account, scribe?"

Stryfe stepped forward with a scroll which he unrolled. "Repeatedly and with much enthusiasm from sunup to sundown and the hours in between for several days."

Taeron felt his face grow hot.

Trey chuckled at his discomfiture. "I understand completely how you feel. Now I believe you and I have some medicine to take. Stryfe, call that female I saw you flirting with earlier and tell her to serve us some tea. I could use a few cups after that confrontation."

Stryfe scratched his head and then said, "I won't be able to do that. She asked me to tell you that there is no more tea to be had in the imperial city."

"No tea!" exclaimed Trey in disbelieving outrage.

Stryfe exchanged a look with Taeron and then told him, "I guess that is my father's response to your mistrust."

Trey threw himself down on the sofa. "I would rather take a sword to my gut than face my court without that tea calming them and me. That prick!" Then he shook his head and laughed. "I will have to grovel to Duo Maxwell for his forgiveness this time."

Taeron thought of the times Amyr had done so and remarked, "The imperial house of Trey does that very well. Very well indeed."


	36. Chapter 36 Keilana of house Caron

**Chapter 36**

Walking through the corridors, his hand on the hilt of his sword, Taeron ignored the imperial nobles that paused their conversations to turn and stare at him. He had suffered their judging looks and whispers since he was old enough to understand his place in the world, but now they had been given good reason to sneer at him. He was wearing Amyr's clothing, altered to fit him, sleeping in Amyr's chamber and he had been taken into Amyr's house. As Arora predicted, the imperials had jumped to the conclusion that the reason she had fled was that she had finally learned the truth of her human mate's infidelity.

Upon the return of the shuttle from Bayman, the news of her miraculous escape from tragedy coupled with the disgrace of the crown prince polarized the court into factions with one siding with the emperor while others, albeit few, supported the son he had named heir. After already having renounced Amyr, Trey did not feel that he could do the same to Staefyn only days later without appearing weak to the warlords that would use the discord in the imperial family to make a bid for power. Instead, he stripped Staefyn of most of his support by naming Taeron lord prince commander of the imperial warriors, and because Taeron had earned their respect for how he had handled the Varoonyans, most warlords chose to remain loyal to the emperor.

Although it had been almost two weeks since Edgeland Fortress had been retaken, communications had not been restored because the parts needed to repair it had disappeared. It would take months to manufacture the crystals to power the system, so communication to the other worlds of the empire was impossible. The moons were cut off from the surface, and there was no way to discover what was happening on Teralon. Taeron would not know until he drew close and the ships would be in range if Balak had already seized power. And Trey had fretted anxiously about his family until the transport returned to report that they had been delivered safely to the home of the first princess.

Preparing to leave on the morrow for Edgeland Fortress, he had been going over last minute details with his commanders when the message had arrived to join the emperor. He would have preferred conferring with the warriors on planning a strategy in case Staefyn tried to intercept the troop transports on the way to the Wasteland spaceport, but he ended the meeting abruptly to accompany the messenger back to the palace. The emperor would not have interrupted preparations unless it were important.

Taeron had almost reached the receiving hall when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, and he partially drew his sword. He had already been attacked in the palace by men whose house claimed loyalty to Staefyn, but he now shoved the sword back into its sheath when he saw a female detach from a group of males that he recognized. Aevan and Caerl of house Caron were among the worst wastrels at Trey's court. They avoided the practice yard, harried the servants and while their father, Rendael had made his support of the emperor clear in offering his warriors for Taeron's excursion to Teralon, Taeron did not trust his sons. He caught himself now wishing the arrogant imperials would attack him so that he could be justified in his suspicions.

He did not blame the female for leaving them behind when they had already proven in their behavior towards the female servants that they adhered to the old misogynist customs that Trey had abolished. But Taeron was dismayed that she was making a path straight to him. With black hair, pale skin and brilliant blue eyes, her attractive form would make any man turn his head to look at her. But as she drew closer to Taeron, he pursed his lips in annoyance. Since learning of his elevation in status, imperial males pushed their females under his nose so that he might consider one as his mate. They approached him so frequently that the inevitable clash with Queen Neria was bound to happen. Seeing Dijana's mother now leave the protective circle of her winged guard to move towards him, Taeron knew there would be a confrontation unless he could head it off.

The female managed to reach him before the Teralonian queen, and when she dipped low in a respectful curtsy, he noted that she was shockingly exposed by the elegant gown that was sleeveless and cut low according to the current fashion of the nobility at court. Although he had certainly never seen them, Taeron was sure that the undergarments of the females of Meridon's tribe were more concealing that what this female was wearing.

"My lord prince," she murmured huskily.

Taeron nodded in greeting although he still felt like an imposter when he heard others refer to him as a prince. He would rather return to the moon to stand as Amyr's imperial guard than to be facing the simpering females sent to accost him by the ambitious males of their houses.

"My lady," he murmured. He did not know her name, nor did he care. Amyr never had either, but then Amyr would have given her instructions to meet him in some private corner and she would show just how she could please the crown prince. More than one female had made it clear that she would do the same for him, but even if he were not bonded, Taeron had no interest in taking advantage of his position.

Before he had a chance to dismiss the female, Queen Neria swooped in – not actually, but given she had wings, she very well could have – and she pushed past the female who almost lost her balance. "My lord prince," she said loudly enough for anyone to hear, and few would not be able to. "How are plans proceeding for the departure to Teralon to bring your mate back to Calabria?"

The pretty female at his feet struggled to rise without falling out of the enticing gown, and while Taeron thought he should help her, he dared not touch her with his mate's mother hovering over them, her brow menacingly arched.

Taeron was impressed that Keilana could ignore Queen Neria to focus on him when she finally succeeding in facing him. "I am Keilana of house Caron."

By the gods! He had not known that house Caron had a female looking for a mate. Many of the warriors that had accompanied him on the campaign to Teralon and Varoonya had come from her father's southern holdings. Although he had not come to the imperial court in all of Taeron's memory, Rendael had sent hundreds of men to train at Edgeland Fortress so that now he commanded as sizable force as his father had. Lord Caron's had been the last imperial house to surrender to Trey and accept his rule, and Taeron could imagine Trey's warning not to alienate that house when their warriors comprised the bulk of the army he was taking to Teralon.

Queen Neria's unwavering stare vexed him as she waited for him to respond to the question she had asked, and by the expectant raise of her brows, she was waiting for him to dismiss the imperial female, but he could not just send Keilana of house Caron on her way with a bland compliment as he could the females of lesser houses. He caught Keilana giving Queen Neria a brief look of disdain, so he knew she was very well aware of the power of her house. Taeron wondered how much trouble this female was going to give him.

"I am honored to meet you, Keilana of house Caron." Even that innocuous remark had made Queen Neria's lip curl in disdain.

But a smile curved Keilana's full lips which were reddened with the favored cosmetic of the young females, ripe berry juice. Another man might be enticed to lick her lips as he stole a kiss, but Taeron would never consider it, not when his body was telling him now to move away from her. The medication Lady Trynity had delivered to the surface for him along with the regular shipment of healing herbs was wearing off, and if he did not have more before long, he would have to return to the emperor's apartment to rest until the symptoms abated.

"Perhaps you will recall training with my brothers, Aevan and Caerl." Her soft, breathy voice was contrived to make her more attractive, and by the looks she was receiving from the unbonded males in the hall, she was performing admirably. Although he did not count himself among them, most Calabrians appreciated weak females that needed protecting. When she took a breath, her gown slipped even lower and Taeron glanced quickly away at what she revealed and found himself looking into Queen Neria's eyes.

"Would you honor me with a walk in the garden?" Keilana asked softly.

Normally a male would ask that favor of a female he was interesting in courting, but Taeron was beginning to sense that Keilana might have more to her than outwards appearances alluded to. If she had approached him a few months ago, he would have been intrigued enough to agree to her suggestion. But a few months ago she would not have given the bastard warlord any consideration. Keilana of house Caron's station had been far above his own.

Seeing that Dijana's mother was ready to flay the female with a cutting remark when her lips parted and she took a breath to speak, Taeron quickly responded to the imperial female.

"I am flattered, Lady Keilana, but remind the males of your house that I am mated." She could not have asked without their permission and probably did so because they had demanded it. He focused on her forehead to avoid looking at all that she had exposed, wondering what she had planned for him during their garden stroll. He hoped Stryfe was not skulking about in the shadows to report on this exchange to the emperor because he could imagine the details he would add to entertain Trey.

"You did not celebrate the bonding ceremony," she dared to say although he had politely dismissed her.

Taeron glanced at the men of her house who were watching her closely. They wore elegant clothing, jewels on the fingers and on the hilts of their swords. He had grown up around these people and yet he felt closer to the tribesmen on his father's moon. Aevan and Caerl had been lazy brutes in the practice yard and he had not been surprised that their names had not been on the rolls for service on Teralon several years ago. If they had blooded their swords at all, Taeron would be surprised. Would they beat their sister if she failed to attract him?

Seeing that Neria was about to speak again, Taeron gave her a warning look before responding to Keilana. "I have bonded with my mate in the old way."

The smile faded from her lips as she gasped and took a step back. She reacted as if he had admitted to mating a canyon beast, but it served his purpose. Imperials did not bond in the old way like the tribesmen on the moon, but Taeron had done it because it had felt natural. The moment he had joined his life with Dijana's, he believed they had been blessed by the gods. But since he had learned of her deception, he tortured himself with the suspicion that Dijana knew what she was doing, that she had seduced him and trapped him as the scribe so that she could reject the warlord who had come to take her as his bride. How would she feel when she learned that he was that warlord and she could not reject him?

"The emperor has important visitors," Queen Neria told him after Keilana had quickly retreated to the males of her family who did not seem pleased with her lack of success. Taeron watched as Aevan seized her arm and by her wince of pain, he was not gentle as he dragged her close to whisper in her ear. There was nothing he could do to help her without giving her and her brothers false hope that he would consider her as a mate, but he did not like watching them handle her roughly.

"He has closed his hall to all but you."

Sighing, he turned his attention back to the queen. "Do you wish to speak to him?" he asked her.

"No. But you are my son by marriage, so I expect to know about anything that affects you." Gods damn! Her interference in his life was going to be worse than that of his own mother.

Having been busy that day since before the rising of the second sun, Taeron did not know with whom Trey was meeting, but whoever it was had arrived when the court had not risen for the day or he might have already heard about newcomers to court. The lazy imperials usually rose closer to the point when the suns were at equal distance in the sky. Without the tea supplied by Ulfynaeus, they stayed abed even longer which did not bother Taeron at all since they had become quarrelsome. Trey cursed Taeron's father daily when he was beset by their constant petty petitions against each other.

"Are you going in there now or are you waiting for another female to flirt with." When Queen Neria was at her most demanding, Taeron was reminded of Dijana, and denying that he was flirting with females was a waste of breath when he had determined that Dijana's mother did not listen to anyone but herself. Thinking of some of his earlier encounters with Dijana, he chided himself for not realizing that she had that same arrogance even without having been raised by the woman.

Pushing away thoughts of Dijana before they made him anxious, he invited her mother to join him by offering his arm to escort her. He wasn't foolish enough to touch her because the first time he had tried to take her arm, she had informed him that she preferred he keep his blood-stained Calabrian hands to himself. He did not want to touch the winged harridan anyway, and when she sniffed at the arm he had offered before moving past him in the direction of the receiving hall, he gladly let it fall to his side.

As he followed her, he acknowledged the bows of the imperials along the way who did so only to ingratiate themselves with the imperial prince who now controlled the emperor's army. But just before he reached the door, he sensed a movement before he saw the flash of not one, nor even two blades. A handful of men had drawn weapons from their elegant garments and they charged him together.

Taeron frowned at such a display of poor tactics as he drew his sword, leaped over them and adroitly skewered them one after another, trying not to leave a mess in the hall. The last time he was attacked, he had swung his sword with no thought but to rid himself of the threat to him and to the emperor, but blood had sprayed out from the wounds he had inflicted, drenching the onlookers. Trey had scolded him because the imperials in the hall were furious to have their clothing ruined and had even presented the emperor with petitions demanding reimbursement for the damage the his lord prince had caused. One man had the audacity to suggest that Lady Larya provide him with new clothing and Trey had to bite his lip to keep from smiling as he gave the man permission to approach her with his demand. His boldness had deflated quickly as he must have imagined how Larya would respond.

After leaving the attackers dead on the floor to soak up their own blood, Taeron noticed that the courtiers that had not fled during his exhibition did so now with screams of horror. Turning in the direction from which they fled after carefully wiping his blade, he saw that they were terrified by a man who advanced on Taeron, a long blade in his hand, his eyes glowing red. Did Staefyn think that a Varoonyan battle thrall would be any more successful than an ill-trained Calabrian? Taeron had lost count in the first half-hour on Varoonya how many of them he had butchered. With a sigh, he glanced at Queen Neria to be sure she was a safe distance before he turned to face his challenger.

When he stepped into the receiving hall a few moments later, the stench of burning flesh wafted into the room until Taeron closed the door. He regretted coming into the presence of the emperor with blood on his tunic, but he would be happy to report that he had saved the wardrobes of the imperials. Despite her contempt for brutish Calabrians, Taeron detected a hint of approval in Queen Neria's blue eyes. He thought it odd that all it took for a brutish Calabrian with blood-stained hands to earn her approval was to hack off limbs and disembowel others.

Trey was sitting on his padded chair, elbows on his knees, his head in his hands as he listened to a woman concealed in a cloak standing before him. Taeron could not hear what she was saying, but he could see that she was wearing down the emperor and he was about to rescue him, with his blade if necessary when he heard a voice behind him.

"My son."

Turning he saw Apolo leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest and he glanced briefly back at the emperor and recognized his mother now. He could not hear her, but her words could be as efficient as a sharp dagger and he could imagine what she was saying to the man who had dredged up her past by taking Taeron into his house.

Deciding that Trey would have to handle this without his help, he smiled at his mother's mate and went to greet him with a hug.

"I have you to thank for saving my sister's life," said Apolo, leaning away although he held his hands so that he could sense his feelings. Taeron did not care if Apolo felt his anxiety at being taken into Trey's house and given an honor he had never desired.

Taeron's mother broke off whatever she was saying and she spun to look at him. Seeing the blood staining his tunic, she gasped, whether in horror from a perceived injury or in outrage that he was not wearing something she had provided, Taeron could not determine. But she rushed past Queen Neria without even looking at her in her haste to get to him although the woman was hard to miss.

"Are you hurt? Oh, Taeron, I have been so worried about you!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him close, weeping against his chest, not caring that the blood soaking his tunic now stained her clothing. Taeron felt comforted for the first time in many weeks to be held in her loving embrace.

Sighing, Trey rose from the chair and went to them. "You are not hurt?" Taeron raised a brow at the superfluous question and Trey chuckled. "How many this time?"

"Five foolish imperials and a Varoonyan battle thrall," Taeron told him.

"Is it too much to hope that you have cleared out the rabble from the hall with your swordplay?"

Larya pushed herself from Taeron and turned on the emperor. "How can you jest? You have done this to him! They should be trying to kill your son, not mine!"

"Mother, they would still have to go through me," Taeron pointed out.

"You are an imperial prince now!" She shot the emperor a glare before turning back to Taeron. "Do you not have an imperial warrior to guard you?"

Trey snorted. "Who could possibly act as his imperial guard? He would only get in the way."

Larya looked at Taeron now. "My son, how could you let him do this? He is not your father! You have allowed him to make you a target for that bastard's assassins."

"I am not afraid of assassins and I am honored to serve my emperor in any way he demands."

"You are impossible!" She turned her ire back on the emperor. "What about Amyr?"

"You have been here for hours nagging me about your precious son and you haven't given me any news of my own."

"You repudiated him! Why should I tell how he has impressed me in ways I thought impossible for him five years ago? Did you want me to tell you how charming and bright your grandson is? Or how happy Amyr is with his wife? Do you want news of his expert handling of the clans who want to storm the surface and hunt you down for how you have treated your imperial guard, the man to whom they have given their oath? You are fortunate that he talked them into only cutting off your tea!"

"So!" Trey smacked his fist into his hand. "Now I know who to blame! I knew Duo would not be so cruel!"

Larya rolled her eyes and turned back to Taeron. "He misses you, my son. Amyr cares about you and he is afraid for your safety. He has even offered to be your guard."

Trey threw back his head in laughter and moved to sit in his chair. "By the gods! Amyr is a fool to imagine that would ever happen."

Taeron ignored Amyr's father. "I would be honored to accept his offer."

The emperor stopped laughing. "Are you serious? Taeron, you would spend all your time protecting him or protecting yourself from him."

"I trust Amyr with my life," Taeron told him, aggrieved that Trey could mistrust Amyr. "Not only has his skill as a warrior improved, he has been working on his Guerani powers as well."

"Taeron is right," said Apolo with a censorious frown at Trey. "You, of all people, know how useful it is to have a Guerani at your back and my sister's son is developing his powers quickly now that he is near Calabria."

The emperor sighed. "I can hardly believe Amyr would make such an offer." He fixed Taeron with his gaze and cocked his head. "Are you sure it is not some sort of ploy to regain what he has lost?"

"You only know the Amyr that left five years ago," Taeron said. "I am honored to know the man he has become."

"As am I," added Apolo.

The emperor's eyes glistened. "Arora was right, I should have discussed this with her before acting."

"My sister is always right," pointed out Apolo. "I thought you knew that."

Trey grunted. "I was a fool to listen to Staefyn."

"Staefyn has become very skilled at manipulating others with his golden tongue," Apolo said as he went to slip an arm around Trey's shoulders. "He has had many years at your side to learn your weaknesses, and he knows how much pain you feel at what the imperials say about Arora behind your back."

"I love him. I trusted him. I did not even recognize him in the man that told me Arora was better off dead in the Wastelands, that he was shamed to be her son."

Apolo pursed his lips and Taeron could feel his anger, but he reigned it in to lean forward to look into Trey's eyes. Taeron knew he was using his powers to ease his distress and he was glad that Apolo had come. He might be able to talk the emperor into planning his offensive against Guerani Palace instead of spending his days wondering how he could convince Staefyn to return to the imperial palace to justify his behavior. Taeron knew that Trey felt as if he had failed as a parent.

"This is not your fault, Trey. Sometimes fruit rots when it falls from the tree."

"And sometimes it gets worms," said Taeron, believing that Kai was responsible for Staefyn's actions. "The only way to end this is to take the army into the hills to find the worm."

Apolo had not taken his eyes from Trey's. "Whatever the reason, Trey, the fruit has been spoiled."

Even with Apolo's healing hands upon him, the emperor's grief was evident at the reminder that this would probably end with Staefyn's death. Taeron's heart ached from the despair the emperor felt at losing his son.

When Apolo drew Trey into an embrace, Larya tugged on Taeron's hand. "We should leave them." She noticed Queen Neria who stood back watching the exchange with no hint on her face of her feelings. He wondered if she thought of her own son who had not helped her when her consort had imprisoned her for many years and who now actively colluded with Balak to end her reign.

"Am I to assume that this is your mother by marriage?" asked Larya tersely. The edge to her voice warned Taeron that Queen Neria was going to be treated to the cutting edge of his mother's tongue. She had probably been informed of the sordid details of what had happened on Norvana and had leaped to the conclusion that Dijana was at fault. Taeron could not feel too sorry for Queen Neria when she had been a thorn in his backside since coming to the palace.

"Queen Neria of Teralon," Taeron said by way of introduction. "My mother, Lady Larya, governor of Dagmaeus."

The two women nodded while sizing each other up as if they were preparing to cross swords. Taeron's nerves were fraying as they stared at each other, but he swallowed and suggested they become acquainted in his chambers. As he walked with them, they did not speak so he knew Larya must have decided to wait until they were in private to express her thoughts. As soon as they reached his apartments, she ordered Taeron's servant to bring hot water to be delivered to the small salon where she led Dijana's mother. Taeron left them briefly to prepare his own medicine and after gulping it down quickly, he returned to the women who had sat on the elegant sofa side by side.

Taking a seat opposite them, he waited until the male servant had set the steaming pot of water before them and stepped aside to wait for further instructions.

Larya withdrew a packet from inside the decorative pouch she wore and she smiled at Taeron as she added leaves to the water. "A gift from your father," she told him as she stirred the tea and poured the beverage into cups that she handed to Taeron and to Queen Neria before settling back with her own. "Sometimes Lord Duo is tolerable."

"He must have been more than tolerable on at least one occasion," remarked Queen Neria with a pointed glance at Taeron.

Larya looked at her with raised brows. Taeron held his breath, wondering what scathing reply she was going to make, and as the two women stared at each other silently, Taeron's hands shook so badly from the tension building that he almost spilled some of the calming tea.

Then his mother laughed and he nearly yelped with pain when the steaming liquid sloshed over the edge of his cup.

"I did all the work," Larya boasted. "I tried every trick I could think of, but I couldn't get the bastard to bond with me. Had I known humans could not bond, I would not have bothered although he behaved as if he had bonded with that snake-haired witch he has taken as his mate."

"I have heard she is very skilled at healing."

"She is a gods-blessed woman in her skills and for putting up with that idiot."

"Mother," warned Taeron. "I do not care to hear you malign my father." He should be used to it, but he respected his father too much to let her do so without defending him.

"I am sorry, Taeron." Her apology was not as sincere as he would have liked, especially when she continued. "He is fine with a sword and he governs well, but when it comes to women, he is brainless as well as spineless." She narrowed her gaze at him. "Have you followed his example?"

Taeron opened his mouth to speak, but Queen Neria did before he had a chance.

"Since I have learned that he is the scribe that seduced my daughter, then I can vouch for the fact that he is, indeed, brainless and spineless. How else can you describe hiding your identity from the woman you have made an oath to take as your wife?"

"Mmm." His mother sipped her tea and he expected her to defend him, but he was dismayed that she did not. "I told Trey he wasn't ready for a wife, but he insisted, and since Taeron considered it a great honor, I allowed him to accept."

Allowed him to accept? Taeron doubted he had a choice.

"I would have expected that a man who accomplished what he did on Varoonya would be ready to mate a female."

Taeron was growing hot with embarrassment. He tried to think of something to say to defend himself, but the women continued talking as if he were not present.

"I blame his father for not instructing him properly," stated Larya. "I did what I could and asked Lord Duo to instruct him further – although that would not add much to what I already told him since he is an awful lover – but as usual he was not up to the task."

Squirming under their scrutiny, Taeron tried to make himself another cup of tea, and when he started to make a mess, he noted that his servant rolled his eyes and came forward to make one for him.

Both women pursed their lips and then turned their attention back to each other.

"It is not as if he hasn't had the opportunity to sample the females," said Larya matter of factly.

"Mother!" Taeron was appalled that she would say such a thing to Dijana's mother.

"Good! My daughter needs a man with experience." Queen Neria sighed. "I have not seen Dijana since she was a babe, but Sharisse visited me off and on over the years with Avar and she was quick to point out that Dijana failed to attract the notice of males." She glanced at Taeron with a curious lift to her brow and he was afraid she was going to ask why he had preferred her over Sharisse. He would not know what to tell her since he did not know why his heart had chosen to quicken in her presence.

The Teralonian woman slammed her cup down so hard that it shattered, startling him from thoughts of Dijana, thoughts that were straying to memories of their stolen moments at the pond on Norvana. "I hope you did not hurt my daughter with your fumbling inexperience after all that she has been through!"

Fumbling inexperience?

She didn't seem to expect an answer, so Taeron guessed it was an accusation. Before he could defend himself - he did not know how he would go about doing that - his mother inquired what had happened to her son's mate. Taeron was appalled that she had asked, and he hoped that Queen Neria would not be as blunt as his mother usually was. But he hoped in vain because she told his mother exactly what had happened to Dijana, giving horrific details that had been related to her with relish by both Avar and Sharisse. Dijana had not spoken of everything Kai had done to her, and hearing it now made him want to leave now to find the bastard and rip out his innards with his bare hands.

"That Varoonyan creature must have torn off her wings, and he carries her beautiful hair on his belt as a trophy! Avar thought it a very amusing story."

"My son will put an end to the both of them."

Taeron confirm his mother's faith in him, but Neria did not let him.

"I confess that I had reservations about this match after his foolish behavior on that frontier planet, but after watching him deal with those assassins," the queen smiled menacingly, "I will be delighted to watch him kill those male usurpers."

"Is your daughter in danger now?"

"They will have to wait until I return to Teralon," Neria told Larya. "And then they will try to kill her in the ensuing chaos, thereby blaming Calabria."

His mother frowned. "What if you are wrong?" She looked at Taeron. "You bonded with her!" They both knew that the odds of him being able to bond with another woman were slim and if he tried, the odds were greater that the blood bond would kill him.

He left his seat to drop to a knee at his mother's feet and he took her hand. "Do not worry, mother."

Larya reached out to lay her hand on his cheek. "Do you know how many times others have said in my hearing that I do not deserve a son like you?"

His heart ached for her. "I could not ask for a better mother."

She smiled wryly and dropped her hand to his shoulder. "You would never ask for a better mother, Taeron, but they are right, you deserve one. Now you must hear even worse things about me after what Trey has done."

"I don't care what they say," he denied hotly even though he did care and wanted to punish anyone who insulted his mother.

"What they say about Trey and me is not true, but it is not for lack of my trying. Xuxa demanded that I seduce him, but his bond with Arora kept it from happening. She beat me many times for my failure, and when Xuxa was gone, I wanted to punish Trey for all that she had done to me. Even after all that I had done, to them and to Duo, they forgave me. I am blessed by the gods to count Trey and Arora as my friends because I shudder to think what would have happened to us if they had not stepped in for your father."

"It is the will of the gods." Queen Neria looked at Taeron. "They seem to have taken a particular interest in charming your life."

After the queen left Taeron alone with his mother, she told him about her visit to Ulfynaeus. He was glad that she seemed to understand his need for news of Amyr and he was relieved to learn that Amyr was not regretting his decision. Taeron was not sure how he would feel if Amyr now thought better of leaving behind his life of privilege as the crown prince. His mother told him that Amyr had taken his room at the governor's palace and that he was wearing his clothing. Taeron was not surprised since Amyr had taken every garment his mother had made for his nuptial trip to Teralon.

"But I will be god's damned if I will make a single garment for him or that strange creature that wishes to call me mother!"

Taeron raised a brow in question.

She gave an exasperated sound. "That … that creature that calls himself Jeshed."

"Jeshed wishes to call you mother?" He loved her dearly, but he could not imagine any man giving her that kind of power over him.

"I do not understand how, nor does Lady Trynity, but somehow Jeshed has used bits of you to make himself." She turned up her nose in disgust. "I cannot imagine the gods are pleased by that abomination."

"Jeshed is a magical gift of the gods," Taeron admonished her. "You should be honored that you can count him as your son."

She pursed her lips in thought for several moments and then she said, "Well, he does have all of my good looks, and I cannot complain that he is formed like your sire. Lord Duo disgusts me, but he is the one man beside my beloved Apolo that I could even countenance mating."

Taeron didn't think his stepfather would be pleased to hear that since her attempt to mate with his father again had almost kept them apart. His mother would never betray her beloved mate, but she was very blunt and honest about her thoughts and feelings which made for some very interesting and embarrassing arguments with Lord Apolo. He did not want to hear any arguments about his father ever again.

"I shall consider taking him in hand," his mother concluded. "I now regret leaving him on Ulfynaeus with Lord Duo because I am going to have to overcome the effect he will have on poor Jeshed."

That night, after seeing his mother off on her journey to Edgeland Fortress where Apolo would take command of the forces that would protect the imperial city, Taeron found it difficult to sleep after the setting of the second son. During the dark hours, he left the bed that had been Amyr's and he paused at the mat that he had so many months rested lightly on at night, across the room when on those rare nights he was alone and on the balcony when he sported with his females. He had not looked forward to his marriage to Quynn because he knew she would come between them when he had finally built some rapport with Amyr after spending a childhood suffering his insults. Having seen the worst of Amyr, Taeron had been convinced that the crown prince could not make his sister happy, and yet Amyr had proven him wrong. He had proven him wrong in many ways.

Stepping onto the balcony, he looked up at the second moon shining brightly in the night sky. He missed his family and wanted to be with them; he missed being at Amyr's side. He had been overwhelmed to hear that Amyr wished to be his guard, and he was glad that Amyr had finally learned the humility that was required for him to make such an offer.

A movement drew his attention and he turned to see that the emperor had stepped onto the balcony from his chamber. They had gotten into the habit of retiring after taking their medicine together, but this evening Taeron's personal servant brought him the medicine with the regrets that the emperor could not join him. Now he watched as Trey leaned against the balustrade and gazed up at the same moon as Taeron.

Trey turned his head to look at Taeron. "You cannot sleep?"

"I was thinking about Amyr," Taeron told him.

Trey pushed off the balustrade and Taeron held his breath as he took two long strides and leapt into the air, clearing the wide expanse between the balconies with ease although missing it would have meant his death. He proved that he was still very agile which did not surprise Taeron when he had practiced with his father enough to know that Lord Duo was still a formidable warrior.

"I spent the evening listening to Stryfe repeat what he had learned of those years Amyr was held as a slave," he told Taeron. "But I think you must know more because few are closer than an imperial guard. I know you are not a scribe, but I also know that you will tell me from your heart about my son. Tell me who he has become, Taeron."

Taeron led him into the chamber, and when he sat cross-legged on the mat on the floor, the emperor joined him and sat across from him. He told him everything he could remember, giving him the details that neither he nor Amyr would ever admit to Stryfe. How he had gone into that arena happy to have the chance to slay Amyr for betraying him, how Amyr had tried in vain to kill him because of what Taeron had caused him to lose by allowing Quynn to see him with another woman. Taeron spared nothing in the story of their changing relationship, changes that seemed to accompany his emerging Guerani powers. Amyr had once tried to use his powers to get revenge and they had failed him, but when he used them as Taeron had seen Apolo do, Amyr had unlocked not only his full potential as a Guerani healer, but also his full potential as a man.

"He is the brother of my heart," Taeron finished with a sigh. His head throbbed briefly at the statement, reminding him that he had risen early that day and would do so again to leave with his army on the four day march to Edgeland Fortress.

Trey reached out to grasp his hands. "I know how you feel, Taeron. Apolo has always been the brother of my heart. When you were younger, I feared that you would not bond with Amyr as I did with Apolo. You were always with Staefyn, but as you grew apart from Staefyn, I saw that you and Amyr accepted that you would be together always." He squeezed his hands again before releasing him and standing. "Thank you, Taeron, for sharing your most private thoughts with me."

Taeron rose to face him. "I have never asked you for anything, my lord, but I am asking you now to reinstate Amyr as the crown prince."

Smiling sadly, Trey put his hands on Taeron's shoulders and he leaned forward to touch his forehead with his own. "I would give you anything Taeron, but not that. I discussed this very thing with Apolo this afternoon and I know that Arora would agree with our conclusion. Amyr can never be emperor. He must be a protector and the emperor has to make choices that would be impossible for him to make as a Guerani."

Taeron did not know what to say. He had hoped that the emperor would agree, but he could not argue with his decision when he had made it for the good of Calabria.

Trey leaned away. "Only the gods know what I am going to do. If I renounce Staefyn, he will target Caedriq and Caedriq is a defenseless child that has only recently learned to walk."

Before he left, Taeron reached out to put his hand on his arm and the worried lines eased from the emperor's brow. "Have faith that the gods will give you a solution. In the meantime, trust that my sword will keep you and yours safe."


	37. Chapter 37 Departure from Calabria

**Chapter 37**

The morning of Taeron's departure, Trey presided over a ceremony acknowledging Taeron as lord prince commander for the imperial troops headed to Teralon. As he knelt on one knee before the emperor with the nobility looking on, Taeron was acutely aware of the rancor of some of the nobles gathered. At least four prominent families had lost young sons at Edgeland Fortress, and Stryfe had reported to Trey that morning that he had heard rumors that they were furious at the emperor for sending a significant force to a distant part of his empire to quell the rebellion on Teralon instead of punishing those responsible. Many wanted the ships directed toward the moon because Staefyn's spies had succeeded in convincing them that the emperor's imperial guard had turned on him. Others wanted the Guerani Hills to run red with the blood of the crown prince and his allies. They trusted Lord Duo more than the conniving prince that had not returned to the imperial court since the massacre at the fortress. Taeron had to choose not only his own warriors with care, but also the palace guard that would protect the emperor in his absence. Most were house Caron warriors that had been with him on Teralon and Varoonya, so Taeron trusted they would not attempt to stab him in the back.

Before the end of the ceremony in which Trey presented him with a sword and dagger with stones of the imperial house, a small group of armed men attacked Taeron, giving him a chance to blood his new weapons before even leaving the receiving hall. One of the attackers had the temerity to swing a sword at the emperor. Trey did not even blink at the sword slicing toward him as Taeron battled six men who had obviously come to stop him from leaving Calabria. Leaning back from the blade, Trey pulled his own sword and swung it upward, cutting off the arm of his assailant before swinging it again to remove his head. He then joined Taeron in his fight and proved that he was still a warrior who could protect himself. Together they made short work of the attackers.

After bidding Taeron farewell, standing amongst the butchered corpses in a pool of blood, Trey turned a contemptuous, challenging glare on the imperials gathered before turning on his heel to leave them gaping in awe. Taeron calmly wiped his newly received sword and dagger on the tunic of one of his victims, then resheathed them. He raised his head, looked at the imperials blandly and then turned and walked out, irritated that the ceremonial tunic that Amyr had once worn and that he now did, was stained with blood. His clothing had been sent ahead so he would be unable to change in a clean garment any time soon. His brother joined him before Taeron exited to the courtyard where several of his men waited to escort him to the army readying to depart outside the city walls.

"Is that a good way to begin a campaign?" asked Stryfe with a grimmace.

"Is there a better way?" Graegor of house Chasek had responded. The warrior had been rescued by Quynn after spending several years in slavery after being captured on Teralon. Impressed by his skill and dedication to his training on Norvana and during the trance, Taeron had appointed him one of his commanders. Another former slave, Andwar of house Vaan, had been appointed governor of Varoonya and would continue on to the other planet after they liberated Teralon.

Swinging up on his horse, Taeron looked at Andwar. "Have your scouts reported back?"

The older warrior answered with a curt nod. "They had nothing to report. If Staefyn has troops hiding on the route, then he is using sorcery to do so."

Since Guerani were not capable of such sorcery, that meant they would probably travel unmolested. They were not so fortunate during the ride through the city although being pelted with flower petals and greeted with cheers along the route could hardly be considered arduous. Each time a female came forward to give him a flower, Taeron thanked her politely and by the time they reached the gates, he had more flowers than he knew what to do with and his men did a poor job of hiding their humor.

He arrived at Edgeland Fortress late in the afternoon several days later after an uneventful ride across the uneven terrain between the fortress and the imperial city. Taeron had expected Staefyn to send a force to prevent them from reaching the spaceport, but the crown prince must have decided it would be disastrous to challenge the army of experienced warriors. As his men boarded the transports that would take them to Teralon, Apolo met him and told him that his mother was expecting him to bid her farewell, and Apolo sheepishly admitted he dared not return to the fortress without him.

Since there was nothing to be done that his commanders could not do, Taeron went with his mother's husband. Larya had been at Edgeland Fortress for only a few days, but she had complete control of her own army that was busy cleaning the mess left behind by the attack. As he walked through the blood-stained corridors, Taeron thought of the many raids that Dax had launched from the fortress that had destroyed not just the Guerani, but had also decimated the tribes that now lived on the moons. Taeron wished Trey would tear the gods-cursed walls down, but the strategic fortress had stood for many years defending the imperial city from the wastelands plains and the Guerani hills.

His mother was in the private apartments of the governor where Dax had once lived happily with his wife Valerya and their son who was now governor. As he walked through the rooms now being scrubbed and redecorated to Larya's tastes, Taeron thought of the night that had changed Calabria, the night when Dax and Zeno had met each other to exchange newborn daughters. Both walked into the desert wastelands with the infants and one walked out carrying the child he could not leave behind. The emperor's wife had lost her daughter to the sands, but her mate had saved the child that would one day take his life. Taeron often wondered how the Guerani Dax could leave a child to die, but he supposed it was because the creature Camridaeus had forced him to act against his nature. Whatever the reason, the gods had punished him by taking his beloved from him.

A servant stopped scrubbing to inform him that Lady Larya was in the salon, and when Taeron entered, he was discouraged to hear her chatting amiably with Queen Neria. By the gods, this did not bode well for him.

Apolo had entered after him and Taeron turned to look at him. "How long has that been going on?"

"Since she arrived this morning." Apolo was smirking. "Your mother has made a friend."

No good could come of this friendship. Taeron would not speak aloud his unfavorable opinion of Queen Neria, but she had nagged him incessantly, berated him and criticized him so frequently in the last two weeks that the sound of her voice grated his nerves. He would rather face assassins than spend more time with her, but he would have to escort her to his own transport where she would probably witness him losing consciousness when they took off and then he would have to suffer her scorn for that weakness for the rest of his life.

Apolo leaned in. "She is as nasty a she-beast as your mother. I do not envy you, Taeron. Once you save her daughter, you had better make her happy or her mother will make you wish for escape to the netherworld."

He already wished for escape to the netherworld. Pausing a moment to run through a calming exercise from his imperial training to prepare for battle, he took a steadying breath and stepped into the chamber. Queen Neria saw him first and her nose wrinkled in distaste as she set aside her cup of tea. She seemed to have developed the same fondness for the tea that his mother and much of the imperial court had. He wished it would make her more amenable. For once her wings were not stretched out behind her which they usually were because she enjoyed intimidating people, especially at Trey's court where her arrogance had not endeared her to anyone. Taeron found it almost more intimidating not to see her wings.

"You could not have changed into something more suitable before presenting yourself?" she asked with annoyance with a significant look at the dried blood splattered on his tunic that was almost covered with dust from the road.

Larya lifted her brows. "I vow, son, that you have the manners of that oaf on Ulfynaeus."

"Mother," he warned. He should be used to hear her malign Lord Duo, just as he was used to his father expressing his disgust with Lady Larya. How had they ever set aside their mutual disgust to breed? With a glance at the smirking Lord Apolo, he wondered if he could even live with his mother if it were not for his Guerani charm. No other male could do it.

His mother listened to his explanation of what had happened at the ceremony and then she said, "Trey probably knew what was going to happen and let it happen just so he could prove how brilliant he is by appointing you to lead his army."

"The emperor bloodied his sword as well," Taeron pointed out.

Queen Neria sniffed. "Of course he did! I have already learned that you Calabrian males like nothing better than to hack each other up."

"Very distasteful," agreed Larya. "You cannot imagine how much worse it was under Zeno. If Trey does not deal with this insurrection quickly, we will be back to the bloody chaos before Arora slew the butcher."

"Your imperials are probably salivating at the prospect. I find it repugnant that my daughter shall have to make her home here." Queen Neria fixed Taeron with the glare she seemed to reserve especially for him. "If she is to be the wife of the emperor, then you must quickly give her a female child that I might raise to rule Teralon."

His insides churned and he glanced at Apolo and found that his lips were pressed together but he could see by his gaze that he was amused by their remarks.

"He will have absolutely no control over that," Larya told Queen Neria. "Almost all aspects of breeding are the responsibility of Calabrian females. He will have only one duty to perform to that end."

"Well, I hope that he can do that," remarked the queen with an appraising glance at Taeron that made him shift nervously. Apolo raised his brows and Taeron could see that he wanted to laugh while Taeron wished he could get this farewell over with before his mother decided to instruct him again.

"I may be able to educate your daughter, but I know nothing of your mating practices." Larya looked at Taeron and he was horrified that she was going ask something deeply personal. Of course she did. "Was there anything unusual in how you mated with her?"

Now Apolo burst into laughter despite the glare he received from his wife.

"There will be something unusual in _your_ mating habits, my lord Apolo, if you do not shut your mouth!"

Taeron cast his mother's husband a smug look when Apolo had pressed his lips together – not surprising when his wife had him wrapped around her little finger, especially when it involved his favorite activity. Apolo was still a worthy warrior, but he was first and foremost a Guerani healer who prefered the making and preserving of life to taking it.

Queen Neria sighed. "I would say he is a useless male, but you seem to be pleased in the fine children he has given you. He is also quite pleasant to look upon, so I imagine that breeding with him is no chore."

"Well," said Larya, "he does have his uses. There are things he does with his tongue that ..."

"For the love of the gods, mother!" Taeron was appalled although Apolo was preening from the praise his wife was about to give for his skill as a lover.

Larya sniffed in disapproval. "My son, you have adopted the very prudish ways of your human sire. You have spent far too much time with him. I was hoping that once you had taken a female that you would have lost your inhibitions and embraced what makes you a male."

He wanted to drive his own dagger through his belly to die an agonizing death rather than hear this, and when Queen Neria took a breath, he almost reached for one of the two he now carried although he knew that Apolo would just heal him and he would have to return to this conversation.

"After all that my daughter has suffered, I should like to imagine that she is being pleasured properly." She leveled an accusing glare at him and he almost expected her wings to fly out behind her. "You have much to answer for."

"Indeed," agreed his mother.

"Indeed," murmured Apolo.

"Mother, I came to collect Queen Neria and to bid you farewell." Taeron refused to discuss his intimate moments with Dijana with them. "I have a battle to fight. I will worry about pleasuring my mate once I have wrested her from her enemies."

Unfortunately he chose the wrong words because Queen Neria's brows drew together. "Are you worried about pleasuring my daughter?"

Before he could respond that he was not although he feared that would lead to questions he did not want to answer, his mother let out a deep sigh. "Apolo, you should have undertaken training my son in these matters. I tried and he would not listen to me."

He felt nauseous as he remembered the conversations his mother had forced on him beginning when he was much younger and she had caught him ogling one of her serving women. After that horrid experience, he kept his eyes off her women and confined his interest in females to those of the imperial palace when his mother was far away on the moon. That had not stopped her from offering her advice when he had gone to Teralon to claim Dijana and now he had no intention of delaying his departure so that she could refresh his memory.

Apolo waved his hand dismissively. "He is a male. He knows what to do."

Taeron would not point out that he had already done it repeatedly and with much enthusiasm from sunup to sundown and the hours in between for several days. He would like to pummel Stryfe for adding that line to the official account of his courtship of Princess Dijana. He knew what to do and how to do it with Dijana and he would tell them so if he did not think they would demand an explanation.

"Well, I am hope that he knows what to do with his..."

"Mother!"

She wrinkled her nose, but she seemed to have realized that she might be going too far. Taeron knew he should get out before she decided that she had further lengths to go in delving into his private moments with Dijana.

Queen Neria sighed and stood. "Larya, if he is an example of his father's upbringing, then I truly pity you for having suffered Lord Duo's fumbling attempts to breed you."

Larya rose and hugged her new friend. "There was no fumbling. I plied the fool with a noxious beverage that the emperor's mother brews which rendered him compliant as I chained him to my bed and proceeded to ..."

"By the gods!" That was more than Taeron wanted to hear and he knew if he did not stop her from speaking, she would give every detail. He had imagined something similar, but to hear her describe the events that led to his conception was too much to bear.

His mother shrugged and rose. "I imagine he is eager to swing his sword, so I will have to allow you to take your leave."

"He used his sword with precision," Taeron heard Queen Neria remark as as the two women headed to the door. "I am pleased that my daughter shall have such a strong warrior as her mate."

As the two women hugged each other again, Apolo put his hand on Taeron's shoulder. "Don't judge your mother too harshly. She was trained to be a concubine from her tender years and doesn't view the private relations between a man and a woman the same as others do. But you know that she loves you."

"I do," he said with a sigh, and he glanced at her still murmuring with his mother by marriage. He remembered her saddened words, that he deserved a better mother and his eyes misted for a moment. "I love her too. I am honored that she is my mother."

"She makes me very happy," Apolo told him seriously, his eyes also on the beautiful fair woman. Then he grinned and looked back at Taeron. "If your mother likes your wife as much as your mother by marriage, you can expect they will be talking about every aspect of your life."

Taeron tried to imagine Dijana sharing the details of their most intimate moments with his mother and his stomach flipped. "Gods!"

Queen Neria had stepped out of the room and now Larya came to Taeron. She viewed his tunic with distaste, then threw her arms around him anyway, pulling his head down so that she could kiss his cheeks. There were tears in her eyes. "I hate it when you go off to war!"

"I have trained for it all my life," he reminded her.

"I am still angry at Trey! You are not his prince!"

Apolo chuckled. "Only you would not find honor in the emperor taking your son into his house and making him the most powerful warrior on Calabria."

"I just want my son to be happy," she pouted before she put her arms around Taeron and pulled his head down for another kiss. "Do not worry about us here. Restore Queen Neria and bring your bride to Calabria. Once that is done, you can deal with that wasteland rat hiding in the hills."

After his mother reluctantly released him, Taeron hugged Apolo. "I only wish I had time to stop at Ulfynaeus so that I could ask my father to send Quynn to repair the communications."

Apolo shook his head. "That would not be wise. There are those that would consider that an act of treason since Duo is under suspicion. Your father will understand."

The door opened. "Are you coming, warlord?" demanded Queen Neria.

Apolo chuckled and then moved away to take his wife who had begun weeping into his arms. Taeron could not spare any more time to assure his mother. He was, as Queen Neria had pointed out, a warlord and he must do what he did best.

Taeron escorted his mother by marriage to the spaceport and he was glad that she did not speak to him. He did not want her distracting him from considering the dangers ahead of him. Staefyn had enough spies at the imperial court for him to have found out all the details of his departure, and since he had not attacked on land, Taeron was sure he would send the Varoonyans against him in space where they would be vulnerable. When Danlaer and Keldar had returned from Bayman, gliders had challenged them, but they had managed to elude them with the superior speed of the hypercraft.

Danlaer would be piloting the craft onto which Taeron escorted Queen Neria and when he tried to get her to go to the quarters prepared for her, she insisted on staying in the control room with him. His pilot was unable to keep from chuckling and Queen Neria berated him for his disrespect until Taeron suggested that if she were to stay in the control room, she had better allow someone to strap her in.

"Are your ships so poorly designed that you cannot accommodate for the change in gravity," she said after a regal sniff.

Taeron had little difficulty understanding why Balak had banished his queen to an inhospitable prison. "Teralon does not have hyperspace craft," he told her and she looked as if she would argue but then signaled to her guards, two beefy winged warriors, Guillem and Valter. They gave Taeron what seemed like an apologetic grimace before they strapped her in and took seats Taeron expected his commanders, Andwar and Graegor, to fill. With a shrug and an amused glance at Taeron, they left the control room to the join the warriors in the cargo bay.

After Taeron was settled, he nodded to Danlaer who informed the other ships they were taking off and Taeron closed his eyes when the ship left the ground. As they rose higher and higher, a sweat broke out over his brow and his stomach lurched, but he managed to stay conscious as they shot through the atmosphere.

Their communications must have been monitored at Guerani Palace because when they cleared the planet and headed in the direction of Teralon that would take them past the derelict pirate satelite, at least two dozen Varoonyan craft suddenly shot out from behind the hulking dark space debris. Taeron was expecting it, but he was dismayed to have to fight a battle over which he had no control. He trusted the pilots, especially Danlaer and Keldar who was piloting another of the six hyperspace crafts, so he had little choice but to sit back and began the calming meditation that Lady Trynity had suggested to stave off the worst of his motion sickness. After the first few maneuvers of the craft, he thought he might be able to get through the space battle, but as Danlaer made tight turns and spins to avoid missiles, Taeron lost control and blacked out.

A loud shout of joy brought him back to consciousness although he felt so nauseous he feared he would vomit. He managed to swallow it when he turned his head to see Queen Neria looking at him.

"Welcome back, my lord prince," she said scornfully.

Danlaer's shout saved him from anything else she might have said. "My lord, we have been reinforced from the moon!"

Taeron turned his gaze to the viewing screen, glad not to have to look at Dijana's mother. Several ships were engaging the gliders, and he recognized the battered, older model of the hyperspace craft. He knew who was skillfully distacting the Varoonyan ships.

"Quynn!" he exclaimed with joyful relief. He watched in amazement as she lured two ships into chasing her before maneuvering them into the position of blasting each other.

"Hey, Danlaer, is that you in the lead ship?" Taeron was never so happy to hear his sister's voice. "You're doing a damn good job. But get back there and protect the flank. They are taking a beating and I don't know how long their shields are going to last."

The pilot quickly turned the ship and Taeron's stomach lurched again.

 _Go ahead and vomit._

The advice had come into his head.

 _You will probably feel gratified in more than one way, brother._

Was that Jeshed? How could he hear Jeshed's voice?

 _Because we are linked._

 _Is Amyr with you?_

 _Where else would he be? He wishes to fight at your side, to protect you._

His heart ached at the change in their status.

 _Relax and let me care for you before you empty the contents of your stomach on Queen Neria. I doubt she would appreciate you for it._

A cooling wave surged through Taeron and he was grateful for the power of Jeshed's magic because it made it possible for him to stay conscious during the rest of the battle. When it was over, the imperial fleet had sustained little damage while the space around them was littered with debris that would be collected by barges sent from the moons.

On the viewing screen Staefyn's face suddenly appeared. "Bravo, my lord prince! Then again, I did not expect you would be stopped by my force. I only wanted to trim the odds a bit before you reached Teralon."

"You failed," he pointed out. "Just as you failed to kill me on the surface."

Staefyn frowned. "You think I had something to do with those shoddy attempts? My father has more enemies than he thinks, fools who dare to challenge him through you. I have heard that it is impossible to kill you, and it is getting very difficult to offer enough credits to assassins to attempt it. Do I have your sister to thank for this debacle?"

"Damn right, Staefyn," piped up Quynn's voice. "I can do with this ship what Taeron can do with his sword."

"I am disappointed, Quynn, that you would choose to stay with Amyr after all that bastard has done." Staefyn sneered. "He is with you now, isn't he?"

Taeron was surprised that Staefyn could detect his brother despite the distance between them. The crown prince had developed amazing Guerani powers.

"I am," spoke up Amyr.

"So little to say, brother?" Staefyn laughed. "I don't know what pleases me more, seeing you dead or seeing you walk two paces behind Taeron as his guard after all that you did to him when we were children."

"I am honored to guard my lord prince," said Amyr and Taeron did not detect any mockery.

"Of course you should be honored. You are a bastard and even though Taeron is a bastard, at least he has my father's blood."

Taeron was about to retort, but Queen Neria quickly unstrapped herself and moved to press the button closing the communication. She turned to look at him. "Responding to such ravings only validates them."

She returned to her seat and after she had been strapped back in by her men, she turned her head to look at him. "You have shown yourself worthy of the loyalty of your people. After all that has happened, a lesser man could expect Prince Amyr's dagger in his back, but you have managed to earn his allegiance. Perhaps I have misjudged you."

Taeron hardly believed he was hearing praise.

"Or Prince Amyr is a fool," she added as an afterthought and he sighed with annoyance.

"Hey, brother, father has gathered a force to accompany you to Teralon. They will be taking off from the moon now that we have eliminated the threat. Where is Stryfe?"

"He is piloting one of the transport ships that has been fitted with hyperspace drive capabilities," he told her.

Quynn whistled. "Wasn't that expressly forbidden in the agreement with the Cinq Kingdom?" The human king did not want barges of imperial soldiers showing up in his system.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Taeron heard Stryfe say.

"That's what father said when he upgraded our barges." Quynn laughed, then she said, "It was nice of gramps to put the schematics on the back of the control panels."

"My grandmother probably had something to do with that," Taeron heard Amyr remark.

"Hey, Taeron, Amyr wants to know if we can dock so that he can come aboard."

If Amyr were taking his duties seriously, he would want to be near, but Taeron felt Queen Neria's gaze on him Taeron had another solution. "Dock with us and I will join you."

He closed the communication and sat back with his eyes closed. He could not get off that ship fast enough.

"A very wise decision," remarked the Teralonian queen and Taeron heard Danlaer chuckling.


	38. Chapter 38 Return to Teralon

**Chapter 38**

He did not know why he was nervous, but as Amyr waited for the walkway between the two ships to pressurize so that Taeron could enter, his stomach was in knots. A hand on his shoulder calmed him, and he did not need to look to know whose hand it was.

 _What do you fear?_

Amyr was going to deny that he feared anything, but lying to Jeshed was as useless as lying to his own mother. She had never been fooled. He and Taeron had spent almost the whole of their lives together except for those years that he had caused their separation with his idiotic attempt to humiliate Taeron that resulted in his own disgrace and enslavement. Most of their lives he had scorned and mocked Taeron for the circumstances of his birth, and now Taeron had risen above Amyr in status.

 _I am afraid that seeing what was taken from me and given to him will anger me._

 _Did he take anything important from you?_ Amyr was considering Jeshed's question when the door slid open.

"Hey, is he on board yet?" Quynn stepped into the bay and Amyr no longer needed Jeshed's hand of support because the answer had come to him. That battle suit made his heart skip a beat and blood rush to parts of him that should not have the strength to be affected by her after the last few days closed away in their bedchamber in what she called her _real_ honeymoon. Amyr knew what was important and it wasn't anything Taeron had gained from his father.

She came to him and slipped her hand in his. "You're not nervous, are you? He is still Taeron, no matter how many titles get tacked on before and after his name."

How did she know him so well? He leaned down to kiss her, but the door slid open and Taeron stepped in from the pressurized walkway. Amyr recognized the clothing he was wearing because it was the ceremonial knee-length tunic that he had worn when he had taken Taeron's oath to be his imperial guard. He supposed there had been a ceremony to send him on his way, but judging from the state of the blood-stained garment, it had been marred by violence.

Amyr could see that Taeron was reluctant to greet him and he could sense his anxiety, so he stepped forward to drag him into an embrace to show him that he felt no resentment. At first Taeron stood still, but then he put his arms around Amyr to return his hug.

"I see that you are wearing my clothing," Amyr remarked with a chuckle after stepping back to look at him. "Are you paying me back by ruining my best tunic?"

Taeron looked down at the stained garment. "I had not intended to, but if you consider this reasonable recompense for all the work my mother put into the clothing you destroyed on Norvana … "

"By the gods, don't let her think that could be true!" Every time Larya saw him before she left for the surface she had berated him for ruining Taeron's clothing.

"I have one tunic to wear for my marriage ceremony, the one that my sisters sewed for me that my mother brought to me from Ulfynaeus. I did not tell her you that you had already tried to wear it."

"Gods' damn, very fortunate for me!"

"But I had better be wearing it when I exchange vows with Princess Dijana," Taeron warned Amyr. "Or I imagine that Stryfe will let my mother know who is to blame." He put his hand on his shoulder. "You are well, my prince?"

"More than well. I think I have your sister to thank for that." Amyr's gaze followed her as she moved past them to enter the codes to close and retract the docking walkway before releasing the other ship.

"Damn right, dear husband, and don't you ever forget it," she said over her shoulder.

Taeron now smiled and relaxed. "I am happy that you have joined my expedition, but surprised after what the emperor did to you and my father."

"You did not really think Lord Duo was going to shirk his duties just because my father is a canyon beast's ass?" asked Amyr with a laugh. He rubbed his hands together. "Did he entertain your lovely mother? Lord Duo suggested that she pay him a visit and I think it was one of the first ideas he has ever had that she thought had merit."

Taeron joined him in laughing and then he stopped abruptly. "Her visit has opened the gates of the netherworld for me." He paused and then said. "She has befriended Queen Neria."

Quynn came to them and after hugging Taeron, she hooked her arms around both of theirs to lead them to the passenger deck. "The words 'Larya' and 'friend' do not belong in the same utterance."

Jeshed had silently observed them, but he now moved closer. "I do not understand your meaning. Do you dislike our mother, Taeron?"

Taeron swung to look at Jeshed and Amyr sensed anger that Jeshed could even accuse him of such a thing. "I love my … our mother!" Amyr was surprised that he would consider Jeshed a brother and Taeron noticed his start. "She will, indeed, be our mother for I have persuaded her to accept him as such."

Jeshed was ecstatic with joy, but Amyr caught Taeron's smile and he realized that Jeshed was probably going to regret Larya's intrusion into his life. He could not think of a more controlling female.

"If Dijana's mother has become Larya's friend, then she is either a godly saint like Apolo or something the likes of which Calabria can do without," remarked Quynn.

"The latter would be true," Taeron told her as they stepped into a private cabin. A large bed took up nearly the entirety of the space and Amyr wondered if Taeron realized it had been taken from the shuttle he had gone to Teralon in to claim his bride. Amyr knew that Larya had a hand in having it put on that shuttle so that Taeron could continue his mating initiation in comfort on the return trip to Calabria. Quynn had rescued it from the burned out shuttle.

"Perhaps it will get the use intended now," Amyr remarked with a sly smile.

Taeron snorted. "I doubt you will give me a chance to use it."

Quynn stretched up to kiss his cheek. "You have no use for it now, anyway, brother." She grabbed Jeshed's arm. "Let them talk. They either have much to say or they are going to stare at each other soulfully."

Amyr went to his wife and bent to touch his forehead to hers. "I shall save all my soulful glances for you, my beloved."

"See that you do." She gave him a lingering kiss that had Amyr wondering when they could put that bed to use and not for sleeping. "After plotting a course I will double check all the systems and that should give you guys enough time to say what you think needs to be said." She wrapped her arm around Jeshed's. "Come on, dragon boy, I might need your help."

"I am no longer a dragon," Amyr heard Jeshed complain when they stepped into the hall. "Why do you say such silly things? I am Taeron's brother, and your brother as well."

"I am still not sure about calling you 'brother', dragon boy." Their voices faded and then he was left with Taeron, so he turned to look at his former imperial guard. For a moment, neither spoke, and then Amyr noticed that he carried two swords. "Now you carry a sword of my father's house," he pointed out. "And I only have the swords Meridon gave me which I cannot use well."

Taeron drew the sword of Lord Duo's house and offered it to Amyr who hesitated to accept. In another time, he would have been offended that Taeron offered him his sword since Taeron had taken almost everything from him. But that time was past now and Amyr was honored because he knew how much the sword meant to Taeron who had trained long and hard to earn the right to carry this sword to protect the emperor's heir. The sword he was holding out to Amyr had been blooded again and again when he defended Shamara, then Amyr and he had used it to liberate Teralon from the Varoonyan invasion. The stones had been added to the hilt when Lord Duo claimed him, and when it had been done, Amyr had scoffed although he had been jealous. Taeron had been too happy to care about his opinion and Amyr was glad because he had been an ass.

Now he looked at Taeron's face. "You do not need to do this. I will use the swords Meridon gave me. Darlac told me that he would teach me when we reach Teralon."

Taeron pursed his lips for a moment and then said, "Don't you think you should learn to use a sword before a battle? You wish to be my guard, so you need a sword to fight with on Teralon. When we return to Calabria, if you still wish to, you may make an oath to me before the emperor, and then you will receive your own sword."

He reached out to take the sword, but Taeron seized his hand and he was afraid he had misread his intentions until Taeron said, "You have much training to do and time will pass too quickly before we reach Teralon. Before then, you must learn to wield my sword as you never learned to wield your own. "

Amyr met his gaze, then bowed his head. "I will not shame you." He surprised himself by adding, "My lord prince."

Raising his head, he was dismayed by the stricken look in Taeron's eyes. Only Taeron would feel more honor to be the imperial guard of an unworthy crown prince instead of the lord prince commander of all of Calabria's warriors. Amyr drew Taeron down onto the floor where they sat cross-legged facing each other. Closing his eyes, he concentrated to take them far away from the ship and the guilt Taeron could not hide from him, guilt he had no reason to feel, not when Amyr had never felt more content with his life.

The shift into the trance disoriented him at first, and when he opened his eyes he saw Taeron smiling as if in welcome. How did Taeron recover so quickly? Amyr had practiced this very skill with both Apolo and Yori, but he still felt a little dizzy while Taeron looked as though he had only stepped from one room to another.

They stood alone together in the trance, and Amyr had expected to bring them to Norvana, but they were instead in the practice court at the imperial palace where Taeron had spent so many, many hours honing his skills while Amyr honed his own with the females that had come to watch. Although he was perplexed, Amyr thought it was an appropriate place to be after spending so many years avoiding it.

Between Yori and Jeshed, Amyr had learned to use the magic to which he had been born, magic, Apolo suggested, that had initially been denied to him by the ancestors because of the warrior blood of his father, blood of the man that had nearly destroyed their race. Now his skill was such that he and Taeron could spend far more time in this trance than which passed in the real world. Quynn would not be happy, but she would be far less happy if he had his head lopped off in battle because he was not properly prepared.

They trained undisturbed for several days in which Taeron instructed him in more advanced attacks after which he taught him parries that he did not think he would need on Teralon but which would be handy to have on Calabria during the inevitable attack by assassins. When Taeron was satisfied with his progress, they learned to combine their strengths which meant that Amyr had to become faster to keep up with Taeron and Taeron needed to learn to accept the help of his Guerani protector. After a couple of weeks had passed in the trance, Jeshed entered to inform them that Quynn had finished plotting the course and she would appreciate it if Taeron left her chamber so she could rest. But Amyr sent him back with the message that she would have to actually rest and he would spent time with her later.

Quynn did not appreciate his response, so when Jeshed returned only moments later, she was with them. They had to stop fighting when she suddenly appeared, hands on her hips. She had changed into another of those tempting gowns her mother had provided for her marriage five years ago, so her intention was crystal clear.

"I don't take rainchecks," she said with a proud lift to her chin. "Are you coming back with me or not?"

Taeron sheathed his sword and folded his arms over his chest. "Your mate has much work to do," he admonished his sister. "I have much work to do with him." He turned his head to look at Amyr who was considering which was more important at the moment. How angry would she be if he stayed and how disappointed would Taeron be if he left? "If you wish to return with my sister, then I will work with Jeshed. He knows your magic."

Amyr almost agreed, but he did not want to lose Taeron's respect after all the work he had gone through to earn it. " _I_ will go into battle with you, not Jeshed." He went to Quynn and put his hands on her shoulders. She tilted her head up for a kiss, but he did not appease her because he knew it would not stop at just a kiss. "I must do this."

She sighed and snapped her fingers. Before his eyes, she had changed into the alluring gown she had worn as Mordrad's summoner and he nearly cursed her. The impudent female knew exactly how that gown affected him!

"Jeshed knew you would say that, so I am going with him." Giving him a saucy smile over her shoulder, she approached Jeshed who transformed into his dragon form. He gently lifted her so that she could scramble upon him to sit just behind his head before he leapt into the sky.

"I wish he would not do that," he muttered as he watched the dragon grow smaller as he flew away.

"Jeshed will be an advantage for us," Taeron commented as he watched the dragon circling above. He smiled when arcs of flame shot out from Quynn's hands. "I think she is a little angry."

Amyr smiled as he watched. "I hope she leaves some fire for later."

By the time Jeshed landed and transformed into a man again to inform him that they were approaching Teralon, Amyr estimated that they had been in the trance for at least a month although the trip to Teralon only took several days at hyperspeed. Taeron was not completely satisfied with Amyr's skill – Amyr decided that Taeron was not satisfied with anyone's skill, including his own – but they had learned to work together. Amyr tried to get him to replicate his holy magic, but with him denying the existence of it, he did not even want to try.

From time to time he caught a glimpse of Quynn and Jeshed, and he saw Quynn casting fire which seemed to grow in intensity each time she did it. She had returned with Jeshed and Amyr saw that she was carrying a wooden staff that was carved with symbols.

"Does the staff amplify your magic?" he asked her curiously as she showed off the gem on top that she said glowed when she used magic.

"No," she said with a laugh. "But it looks nice, doesn't it? Stryfe provided the runes from an ancient race on Earth and Darlac was kind enough to carve them into the wood. I think it will enhance my look on the battlefield."

Amyr shook his head. "You are not entering the battle." He noticed that Taeron winced and he realized he probably should have thought before opening his mouth.

"You think you can stop me?"

He took a breath to argue, then let it out without speaking and she smiled smugly. "Now, if you boys are done playing, we should get back so that we have time to rest before we reach Teralon." She raised a brow and he knew she was not talking about resting. "Unless you prefer to rest here with Taeron."

Taeron snorted and went to Jeshed. "I think this is where we leave." He reached out to take Jeshed's hand and the two men shimmered and disappeared into thin air.

Quynn walked to him with an enticing sway of her hips. When she reached him, she glanced around the palace practice yard with its high walls ringed with walkways from which the training imperials were observed. Amyr had run up and down those walls so often in the last month that his body had first ached, then screamed in pain, but he could now do the exercises with ease.

"So, is this where you attracted the females?" she asked with a raised brow.

He grunted. "Truth be told, they came to see Taeron and I took advantage of the heat he stirred in them."

Quynn laughed and slid her arms around his neck. "You know that he thinks they used him to get to you."

He leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. "I was only the crown prince. He is a godly warrior without equal. I have his naivete to thank for the scores of females that came my way."

"And I have them to thank for your experience. Is there a nice hot bath nearby to clean all this dirty sweat off?" She ran her finger down his bare chest where it was exposed by his robe, then she hooked it into the belt and managed to pull it loose.

"In my private chambers, my lady." He leaned down to nuzzle her neck near the scar where he had marked her with his teeth. Amyr no longer needed the medicine, and he was saddened that the bond had dissolved, but he could not have imagined the deep feelings he had for her as his Guerani powers evolved.

She made a sound that pleased him, but she pushed him back. "Lead the way, princeling. I have no intention of fulfilling any practice yard fantasies you may have. I much prefer water sports."

Much later he awoke in the bed on the transport and Quynn was gone. She frequently left him alone in bed which disappointed him and yet he knew if she remained, they would never get out. To his surprise, Taeron was sitting crosslegged on the floor across from the foot of the bed. What was even more surprising was that his chin was on his chest and he was snoring softly. Amyr was taken aback because he had spent many years trying to catch Taeron sleeping.

He moved and Taeron's head snapped up with a final snort. Amyr noted the two daggers in his hands which he had drawn immediately upon waking. "Even asleep you are prepared," he noted.

Taeron tucked the daggers away. He had changed into a plain dark tunic that Darlac must have provided for him. "We are approaching the planet. Quynn does not detect any defenses preparing to stop us from landing, but we can assume they will have a great force on the ground. Queen Neria is directing half the fleet to the southern plains where her supporters agreed to gather and we will attack from the north."

"Tell me that it is plains," Amyr said without much hope.

Taeron chuckled. "Marshlands. The inhospitable terrain is too dangerous for her warriors because they are susceptible to the toxins of its creatures, so she asked that we capture all the lands from the northern palace to Nidum, the city surrounding the royal palace where Princess Dijana is being held."

Amyr snorted. "Are you sure she wasn't just trying to rid herself of you?"

"She will have to try harder," said Taeron with a shrug.

After setting down the craft near the northern palace, they secured the former prison of the queen which was not surprisingly deserted. Even as a fortress it was an unpleasant place with few comforts, so after assigning a small force to guard it, Taeron led his men into the marshlands that would take them many days to traverse before they reached Nidum.

As soon as the last of the imperial forces entered wetlands, they were attacked by hundreds of winged warriors hiding in the trees, but there were few imperial warriors that could not deflect the deadly chakrams with their swords and reflexes. The trees of the swamp aided the warriors from Calabria who used them to propel into the air to snatch the unprepared Teralonian forces by grasping their wings and dragging them down into the mire where they were ill-prepared to fight. Jeshed had shifted into his dragon form and Amyr was anxious when Quynn leapt on his back with her staff, but the Teralonian men screamed in fear of the dragon even before Quynn sent a wave of fire through the sky that set ablaze the feathers of many winged warriors.

Amyr had no time to watch her because another wave of winged warriors swooped in from another direction. He had difficulty keeping up with Taeron as he charged forward leading the men, his long sword arcing back and forth with efficient strokes that left the dead and maimed in his wake. The sight of the holy warrior was awe-inspiring and even Amyr gained a surge of strength to follow him into battle. If any warrior came close to injuring Taeron, Amyr cut him down although he was sure that Taeron did not need his help.

The battle raged through the setting of the first sun and by the time the second sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, the fighting had ceased as each army regrouped. While Taeron met with his commanders, Amyr went among the men to use his skill as a healer, careful not to use his magic because it would weaken him. Lady Trynity had taught him to suture, apply bandages and make healing teas. By the time he finished, he was exhausted and he found Taeron sitting on the ground, his back against a tree as his head lolled forward in sleep.

Amyr found a rare dry area and stacked some tall grasses on the spot before waking Taeron long enough to take him to the nest he had made so that he would not be sore in the morning. Taeron made no protest and Amyr could feel that he had been drained by the fighting that day. As he lay beside him, his own cloak covering them, he wondered how Taeron had kept up this pace day after day fighting Varoonyans on Teralon and then on Varoonya. Casting a protective shield over them, Amyr waited until Taeron was asleep before he reached down to lace their fingers and he entered his dreams. Apolo had told him that he would be sickened by what he saw and he had not exaggerated. Taeron's sleeping mind now forced him to relive what he had done that day and if Amyr had not tampered with his dreams, finding a pleasant memory of visiting his mother on Dagmaeus, Taeron would have wakened again and again to escape the horror of the battle. He had been surprised by the grief Taeron felt at killing men he did not know, regret that he must end any life, the same regret Amyr felt as a Guerani.

In the morning he awoke shortly after the rising of the first sun and Taeron berated him for using his magic on him. Apolo had told Amyr that Trey had never known that he had done the same to him, but Amyr guessed that his father probably did and chose not to waste his breath forbidding Apolo from doing something he was going to do anyway. Amyr merely listened and agreed with Taeron that he should not use his magic needlessly, but the following night and many after he gave Taeron a peaceful night's rest.

Their progress to Nidum was slow, and Amyr was glad that Jeshed kept Quynn away from the battlefield on the ground. In the human system she had been trained as a warrior, but her people had developed impersonal methods of killing, methods that were rejected in the binary system. She did not need to see the dead and dying men littering the marshlands that were more often than not feasted upon by carrion creatures of the skies and waters.

After nearly a week of intense fighting, Taeron sent Jeshed south to see what progress Queen Neria and her forces were making. Quynn went with them and Amyr tried not to feel anxious as he hugged her upon her departure, but his heart ached when she stepped away from him. She was a capable warrior in her own right and Jeshed would keep her safe, but he did not like being parted from her.

Another week passed before Jeshed and Quynn returned although Jeshed contacted Amyr with regular reports from the south so that he did not have to worry about her. Neria's forces were commanded by Roehan, a warrior that had been in the northern palace prison during the entirety of the queen's imprisonment. Quynn told them that the queen fought as relentlessly as any of the men, but their initial attack which had been repulsed by the combined forces led by Balak and Avar might have ended the war before it had barely started had Roehan not rallied the men.

Roehan's army initially fell back, but Quynn reported that the sight of the beautiful queen soaring in the sky slinging her deadly chakrams with unerring accuracy was breathtaking and motivated her men to fight fiercely. Almost daily men deserted Balak and Avar, escaping to the enemy camp where they begged Queen Neria for forgiveness. She appreciated the help from Jeshed and Quynn, but she used them only to frighten the opposing warriors because she would not give up hope that the rebellious males would accept her rule once she had removed Balak to take her rightful place. Thinking of Calabria and the many years his parents fought rebels to solidify his father's right to govern, Amyr thought she was better off burning them to cinders or they would rise up in the future.

When the Calabrians finally cleared the marshlands and were within sight of the walled city of Nidum, Amyr was amazed by the palace tower that seemed to stretch to the heavens. They set up a camp to wait for Neria to drive Balak and his men back to the city and when they arrived, they would find themselves facing the might of the Calabrian Empire.

The imperials needed rest and Amyr was glad to have the time to spend with Quynn free from bloody battles. He was exhausted from his own efforts in fighting with Taeron and healing the men, so the first night with Quynn he had fallen asleep after a chaste kiss that made her laugh. But he awoke with her in his arms and he wasted no time in doing what helped him heal best.

Taeron did not send for him so he spent all day with her and when the first sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Amyr left Quynn sleeping among the furs in his tent and found Taeron sharing a meal with Meridon's men who greeted Amyr with a cheer. He had fought by their side and then bandaged and dosed many of them in the weeks since they had landed on Teralon, so he had come to know many of them very well. After what happened the first time he had been here fighting Varoonyans, Amyr was amazed they could forgive him. Even Andwar and Graegor did not seem to feel any rancor towards him although they had been sold into slavery because their loyalty to the emperor would not allow them to abandon their inexperienced crown prince.

Graegor had been sitting beside Taeron and he made room for Amyr. "Are you rested, my lord?"

Amyr smiled. "Very well." The aroma of what Taeron was drinking had become familiar to Amyr. Behind him in the distance he could see the royal palace glowing as the last rays of the first sun. Soon Taeron would have his mate and he could dispense with the medicine he was taking. "Why did you let me sleep so long?"

"Sleep?" Taeron raised a brow. "That was a lot of noise for sleep."

The men chuckled and Amyr's face grew hot as he imagined how they must have sounded. The first time they had come to Teralon, many females had come to the Calabrian camp, but now there were none so he guessed that they were frightened of the off world warriors or trapped behind the walls of Nidum. Most villages were in the south since the swamps were uninhabitable, hence the reason Neria had been exiled to the dreadful palace in the north. Aside from battling the creatures in the swamp, there was little entertainment to be had for the imperial army.

Taeron reached out to lay his hand over Amyr's and he entwined their fingers so that Amyr could sense his feelings. Taeron was pleased with what he had been doing, his fighting, his healing, his protecting. "Your father told me it would be like this, Amyr. Apolo was at his side in every battle and he did as you do now. Once I never could have imagined you acting as he did, but you have surpassed all of my expectations for you."

Amyr's heart swelled with pride. "I could never allow harm to come to you, Taeron. You are the brother of my heart."

Taeron squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "As you are mine."

"The emperor will name you a warlord," Andwar predicted.

"I think my father will be very proud of the honor given to my clansbrother," added Darlac with a snort of amusment.

The thought of Meridon approving of anything Amyr's father did was laughable. Amyr had spent many hours trying to convince Meridon that the changes his father had made on the planet had improved the lives of everyone, not just the women. He doubted he had changed his mind even slightly, but at least the old man had listened to him.

"Your father will be proud as well," Taeron told Amyr, "when I tell him of how hard you worked with me and how well you performed in battle as my imperial guard."

"Where is the scribe?" he asked. "He should be recording your words." His father could hear praise for his son instead of accounts that had surely disgusted him.

"I am," came a voice from beyond the fire. Amyr turned to see that Stryfe was sitting with Jeshed, the two studying a scroll. Stryfe tapped his head with his finger without looking up. "I heard everything, princeling and I have observed everything. You father will be told."

For once, Amyr was not worried.

Andwar chortled with laughter. "Did you include anything about his activities these last few days from sunup to sundown and the hours in between?"

All the men laughed except Taeron who shot a menacing glare at his brother, and Amyr did not know what was so funny until Jeshed communicated to him that Stryfe had written the words of Taeron and Princess Dijana on Norvana. Amyr could well imagine his father teasing Taeron and the latter's subsequent reaction since it probably matched the look on his face now.

"My lord prince, you will soon be reunited with your mate," Darlac pointed out to Taeron. "You must be quite eager."

Taeron's smile faded and he looked at the palace that was now disappearing as the second sun descended towards the horizon. "I hope that we are not too late." Amyr sensed that Taeron was anxious, not just for Princess Dijana's safety, but how they would react to seeing each other after learning the truth. Taeron was unhappy about her deception, and remembering the night on Norvana when she had told Taeron that she did not want to be his mate, Amyr wondered if Taeron feared her rejection. She would not be happy to discover she was tied to the man she did not want. Amyr suspected their reunion was not going to go smoothly and Taeron might need that medicine a bit longer if he used tact and a lot longer if he approached it like a battle.

"Balak needs to keep her alive," said Stryfe. "Even if Neria does fail in retaking her throne, Balak will find it almost impossible to keep his power without Dijana unless he intends to destroy all the powerful families of Teralon. Too many Teralonian males believe religiously in the rule of the female queen, especially since it leaves them unencumbered by responsibility. The best he can do is defeat Neria to rule through her daughter. "

Amyr mused how different Teralon was from Calabria where males had become so terrified of the power females exerted over them that they had subjugated them. Before the emperor's open acceptance of his bond to his mate, few imperials allowed themselves to be enslaved by a female. They purchased females in the many markets across Calabria to serve their needs or captured women from the hill tribes which they bred for males. They had set female newborns in the wastelands where they would either perish or be found by the tribes to be taken in. Several of the women in Meridon's tribe were imperial females rescued from the sands and Amyr could see the features of prominent families in their faces.

His own father's sister had been killed in such a manner by Dax the Demon who had tricked Zeno into saving his own daughter, Amyr's mother. The two females had been born on the same night, and Zeno, unable to leave his beloved wife's child in the sands had exchanged infants with Dax who had proven he had no qualms about dumping females in the Wastelands as if they were refuse. Amyr's mother had reached out to Zeno with her powers as an infant, aided by the ancestors, and the emperor had brought her back to Edgeland Fortress. Dax had pretended to hate him for it, but he had been secretly pleased to have tricked the emperor into saving his Guerani daughter. Amyr doubted he expected that daughter to change Calabria forever.

"We will soon find out whether Balak is as much a bastard as we believe," said Andwar. "Roehan has him on the run now, and he should be beaten back to the palace within the next few days."

His words turned out to be prophetic. Balak and Avar's army straggled back to Nidum three days later and they ran straight into the imperial forces of Calabria. Crushed between the two armies, hopelessly outnumbered, the winged warriors were forced to surrender. But Balak and Avar had managed to escape and must have taken the secret passage into the palace, probably the same passage that had allowed them to escape the Varoonyan occupation. However, this time they would not be able to get away because Neria knew of the passage.

A messenger had been sent to Taeron requesting that he join Neria in taking the palace, but before heading into the passage, Taeron ordered Quynn to return to the ship to ready it for departure because he intended to take Dijana away immediately. They were all anxious to return to Calabria before Staefyn could move against the emperor.

Amyr had only enough time to hug and kiss her briefly before following Taeron into the dark passage that would take them into the palace gardens. He would see her later and then they could put that bed to use properly on the return trip to Calabria since he doubted Taeron would be able to talk Dijana into accepting him anytime soon. The female he had known on Norvana would probably make life very difficult for the gods' blessed holy warrior.


	39. Chapter 39 Dijana's homecoming

**Chapter 39**

Her eyes closed, Dijana leaned closer to Stryfe as his lips moved over hers, and she opened her mouth to urge him to further liberties, but his lips left hers as he lifted his head and the heat of his body faded. Opening her eyes, Dijana was disappointed that he had stepped back.

"I must meet my brother at the practice field," he told her with regret. "I have already ignored my responsibilities too much."

He had not ignored his responsibilities, he had completely forgotten them since the first time they had come together several days ago here in this very place. "Is there no one else capable of keeping Prince Amyr's daily journal?" she asked with uncharitable annoyance. She did not care if he was offended for his prince because she disliked Amyr greatly and she did not want Stryfe to go to him when he could be with her, which, she was quite sure, he preferred as much as she preferred being with him over her sister.

"The time will pass quickly," he assured her. "I will meet you here again at sunrise."

He started to walk away, but she seized his hand and brought it to her lips to kiss. "I love you, Stryfe."

Curling his hand around hers, he drew her to him and she expected him to kiss her, but he cupped one side of her face with his free hand and he leaned down to meet her gaze before touching his forehead to hers. "Never doubt my love for you, Sharisse. My life is in your hands now."

When he released her, she watched the scribe walk away with his warrior's gait, with his hand on the hilt of the sword he wore but did not know how to properly use. Sighing, she waited until he had gone over the rise on the way to Mordrad's castle before she turned and walked reluctantly back to the cottage she shared with Sharisse.

Her sister was already in bed, but she turned to look at her when she entered and she did not hide the look of malicious delight at knowing that Dijana had betrayed the man that she had made an oath to marry.

"Did you enjoy your bath, yet again, sister?"

Dijana ignored her as she dragged off her boots and leggings before slipping into her own bed. She would not feel ashamed for what she shared with Stryfe although admittedly, they had shared it quite frequently since that first night. Now that she was away from him, she was a little glad that she could get some rest from the exhausting activity.

"Is he a good lover?" asked Sharisse.

Dijana had no way of comparing his expertise, nor did she wish to discuss it with Sharisse. The kisses and caresses she had experienced with Kai were like a weak spark compared the the conflagration she felt with Stryfe, so she guessed that Stryfe was either a good lover or she was in desperate need of a mate.

"Do you please him?" persisted her sister from the dark of the cottage after Dijana ignored her and blew out the candle that Sharisse had left for her.

He had not complained, nor had there been any need of instruction between them. Stryfe seemed to know what pleased her and she enjoyed discovering the same for him. Thinking about him now made her warm with need and she wondered if she would be able to get any sleep before dawn when she could return to the pool to wait for him.

"You have nothing to say?" demanded Sharisse. "Perhaps I shall find out for myself. He will be happy to have a woman like me beneath him instead of a drudge like you. I would not be surprised to learn that he only wants you because you drug him when you take his blood. I heard the servants say that it is so pleasurable that they do not care who eases them when it is done."

Her insides churned unpleasantly as Dijana considered Sharisse's spiteful words. Taking his blood was part of their mating practices, so there was the possibility that Sharisse was right. What if Stryfe was only acting as he did because of what she did to him when she nursed his life-giving blood? He claimed it was not the reason for his desire, but a small doubt had taken hold of Dijana that she could not shake. She would not be able to bear his rejection if it were true.

"One day he will awaken and decide that he wants a real female and not a monster that needs to feed upon him." Sharisse laughed softly. "And since I will be within in arms reach in his brother's house, I will be only too glad to give him what he finds lacking in you."

Tears burned Dijana's eyes in the dark and she turned away from the sound of Sharisse's malicious snickers. She might be right, that one day Stryfe would not want her, especially if she could not give him a child. The elders on Teralon had researched her malady and informed the king that while she was enthralled to the Varoonyan warlord, she could not conceive and that Lord Taeron should be informed so that he could set about hunting down the Varoonyan. The thought of never holding Stryfe's child saddened Dijana, but she was afraid the scribe might take it upon himself to hunt down the brutal warlord. Kai would cut him to shreds before he drained his body of blood and left him a lifeless husk to do his bidding. She remembered the terror mingled with relief she felt when Kai had done the same to her and she never wanted Stryfe to feel that.

She fell asleep despite her worries and when she awoke the sun was rising. So after a glance at Sharisse, she quickly pulled on her clothing and slipped out of the cottage making as little noise as possible. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she hurried to the pond, her excitement growing as she knew that Stryfe would be waiting there for her.

But the moment she stepped through the bushes concealing the pond, her arms were seized and hauled behind her back and she saw that Stryfe was not waiting for her. The healer was heating the water of the pond, but she paused in her incantation to look at her.

"Finally you have come, Sharisse. I was beginning to think the scribe had worn you out and you were going to sleep all morning."

Dijana looked at the men holding her in a tight grasp. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Mordrad has made a deal to deliver you and your sister to the Teralonian representative. He is waiting just on this side of the frontier near the border of Varoonyan space."

Dijana tried to yank her arms away, but that only made the men tighten their hold and she cried out in pain despite herself. "Let me go! Send my sister back, but let me stay here."

Carrinda moved towards her. "I really have no choice, my dear Sharisse, but even if I did I would send you back anyway. You are keeping me from something that I want." She looked at the men. "Bring her even if you have to club her into submission." Then she walked ahead without looking back.

Although the efforts were futile, Dijana fought against the men as they jerked her along with them to follow the healer. She was not surprised that Sharisse was accompanying them without protest, but that only made Dijana fight them harder until one of them struck her hard with his fist. She saw bright explosions in her vision before everything became black.

When she awoke to a blinding headache, Dijana was lying on a narrow bed in a small cabin. She was immediately aware of the artificial gravity and knew that she was already aboard a ship headed away from Norvana and Stryfe. Alone in the room, she realized that it was probably a cell meant for incarceration so she did not bother making any demands. The brutes who had put delivered her would probably answer her with fists anyway.

She wiped away tears from knowing that Stryfe was probably looking futilely for her on the planet. Would he tell his brother what he had done and demand that he find her? And when that happened, what would Dijana say? Lord Taeron would be furious to discover that she had lied to him and she had mated with his brother. Calabrians were notoriously strict in their breeding customs and while they no longer hunted down females to mount, the imperials still reviled promiscuous women and turned them away. Even worse, she had made and oath and had broken it. Lord Taeron had many reasons to demand her life forfeit for her many offenses. Stryfe could never again be with her.

After what seemed like days but was probably only hours, a small door in the wall slid open and a tray filled with food and drink moved forward for her. Dijana took them but she had little appetite. Gnawing on the fruit as she sat with her knees drawn up on the uncomfortable slab provided for sleeping, she was sickened to consider the life to which she was returning. She did not want to go back to how she was living before Avar forced her to board the transport to fulfill the terms of a treaty that she was sure everyone had forgotten about. He had threatened to beat her, and when he had opened the walkway between the ships he had struck her across the back so hard to propel her forward that she had been breathless when she stumbled onto the Calabrian ship. She had almost fallen into Stryfe's arms that day. Even then he had been kind in trying to help her. And now she could not bear the thought of never seeing him again.

By the less than perfect inertial dampening system that was not nearly as good as the ship Lord Taeron had arrived at Teralon in, Dijana could tell that the ship was traveling at a high rate of speed away from Norvana. The faint awareness of motion made her woozy, so she remained on her bunk curled in a ball trying not to vomit. Many hours after the delivery of her meal, the ship slowed and she did not even have the strength to raise her head when the door to her cabin slid open. The same men who had handled her roughly bringing her to the ship marched in and dragged her from the bunk.

This time she did not fight them as they jerked her down the narrow passage towards what must be a docking bay. The ship jolted slightly, so she knew another ship had clamped to Mordrad's, and lifting her head, she saw Sharisse standing between him and the healer looking smugly pleased. Carrinda glanced at Dijana and made a sound of disgust before scolding her handlers for the bruise on her face, telling them that they would pay dearly if the Teralonians were displeased.

Sharisse was quick to point out that no one would care.

Only one man would care and she would never see him again.

The docking bay doors opened and the men holding Dijana thrust her forward. As she stumbled through the temporary corridor, she heard Sharisse thanking Mordrad and Carrinda for their hospitality, and when the men from the Teralonian ship jerked Dijana to her feet when she had fallen, Sharisse walked past them without looking at her.

The two burly warriors pulled Dijana into the ship then closed the docking bay doors before hauling her through the ship that she recognized as the royal barge and she guessed they were taking her to her father or to Avar. They opened the door to the cabin reserved for the royal family and shoved her in so hard that she fell to her knees.

The man waiting had his back turned to her as he watched the ship from Norvana pull away, but Dijana knew who he was before she even saw him because her pulse raced as her body reacted to the presence of her master. Sharisse stood nearby smirking as she watched Dijana.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his tall, bulky form clad in dark skins from animals found on Varoonya. At his side he wore his long, curved sword and Dijana was sickened to see that he had attached the hair he had shorn from her head to his sword belt.

When he turned to face her, Dijana could not even breathe as his black eyes met hers. Where she had once been mesmerized by his arched brows and long lashes, she would now look away in disgust if only she could. But his gaze held her frozen. Five years ago she had thought him the most beautiful man she had ever seen, but now she saw only his evil. With shaggy black hair that fell over his shoulders, his meticulously groomed facial hair now gave him a sinister air as he stared at her.

"I thank you, warlord, for rescuing us from that dreadful planet," Sharisse began but she fell silent when he made a swiping motion with his hand.

Kai moved towards Dijana and her heart was beating so fast that she was sure it would explode. She could not move from where she had fallen to the floor and when he was standing over her, she felt very small and vulnerable.

He reached out and gently grasped her chin with his long, slender fingers, scratching her with his clawlike fingernails. A faint smile curved his perfectly bowed lips. "I have missed you, my Dijana."

"My lord," spoke up Sharisse, doubtless jealous of the attention he was giving Dijana, attention she would gladly forgo. "My sister is dishonored. She has broken her oath to Lord Taeron of Calabria and taken a lover."

Instead of being disgusted, Kai moved closer to Dijana and he slid his fingers under her jaw so that his razor sharp fingernail scored her flesh and she felt blood dribble from the cut. "I look forward to a demonstration of what you have learned, my dear Dijana." She heard Sharisse gasp in surprise and she caught his derisive smile as he leaned forward to press his lips to the wound he had made.

When he drew in a mouthful of her blood, Dijana gasped in surprise from the pain when she had always felt pleasure in the past. Kai released her suddenly, stumbling back, spitting out the blood, but not before Dijana heard a sizzling sound and saw that his lips were blistered and his face was disfigured where her blood had dribbled from his mouth. Dijana put her hand to her neck to stop the blood from the cut, but it had already healed and yet Kai's wounds remained.

He shot Dijana a venomous glare before he crossed to Sharisse who tried to escape, but he seized her by the hair and yanked her head back to expose her neck. He sliced where her pulse beat strongest and she screamed as her blood sprayed his face until he lowered his head to drink the blood surging from the cut. Sharisse's screams died away to whimpers and then moans as she writhed with pleasure. As he fed, his black eyes held Dijana's, and he did not release Sharisse until her blood had healed the damage done to him. Releasing Sharisse to fall limply to the floor panting with unfulfilled longing, he came to stand over Dijana, but he made no move to touch her.

"Who have you been feeding from, my Dijana?"

"Stryfe of Calabria," she told him without hesitation. She could not lie to her master even if she tried, so she did not even make the effort. "He is the imperial scribe of Emperor Trey. His father is the human imperial guard of the emperor and his mother is his human mate."

He stared at her without speaking for a moment and then he said, "Your blood is now impure." Dijana thought that was an understatement given what it had done to him. While the damage was no longer evident, his face had looked as though a poisonous marsh creature had spewed acid upon it. Kai clearly did not want to come any closer and Dijana gave thanks to the gods. It did not mean that he could not order others to harm her, but at least she would not have to suffer his touch.

"I had plans for you," he said, his voice husky with suggestion as his hand moved down to stroke the hair hanging from his belt. "Your father promised you to me and I care not who has had you." His smile sickened her. "I would have enjoyed taking the mate from Taeron of Calabria, but it amuses me even more that he has been betrayed." He glanced at Sharisse and he did not hide his contempt. "I will have to settle for her."

The door opened and the two men stepped in. "Take Princess Dijana to her quarters. She is not to be harmed." Kai looked at her again with his mesmerizing gaze. "Perhaps with time and distance from your human lover the impurities of your blood will abate and we shall be together. I will be your mate, Dijana. I will rule Teralon through you and soon, very soon, I will destroy Calabria. I will rule the binary system with you at my side."

She wanted to tell him that she would rather die, but she could only nod in agreement before turning to leave with the guards who escorted her to a comfortable cabin. When they left, she laid on the bed and closed her eyes, but she saw Kai waiting for her in her mind.

 _You cannot take this from me._ He came to her in the vision and slid his arm around her waist to pull her against him. _Since the moment I took your innocence, no other female has satisfied me._

Dijana tried to resist him which only made him laugh. He did not release her until he had gotten what he wanted, and when she opened her eyes, she was staring at the ceiling of her cabin. She was alone, but he had violated her body with his thoughts just as effectively as he would have had he been in this room with her. Dijana had not thought she had any tears left to shed but she was wrong. The life she had hoped to have with Stryfe was over and she had only this future stretching out ahead of her.

The trip to Teralon took several days, and during that time Kai came to her frequently in her thoughts and dreams. He did not touch her otherwise and confined his physical attentions to Sharisse who came to Dijana to boast that she was Warlord Kai's lover. Dijana knew that already because Kai had told her how his encounters with Sharisse left him unsatisfied. She was too miserable to even feel any spite towards her sister.

When they landed on Teralon, her father was waiting with Avar and a small force of warriors. Balak greeted Kai with news that Queen Neria was gathering supporters, so he was glad that the warlord had returned. Her father did not realize that Kai had his own plans for Teralon that did not include Balak and after what her father had done to her, Dijana did not enlighten him.

When Balak finished with his report, he greeted Sharisse with a hug before turning his gaze upon Dijana. She wasn't surprised that he did not hide his disgust. Her father had always despised her and she believed it was because she was not as beautiful as Sharisse. He made no secret that he preferred the daughter that looked the most like her mother.

"You did not bring back your mate, Lord Taeron, hero of Varoonya." Her father laughed in derision. "He did not want you, did he?" He glanced at Sharisse. "Did Lord Taeron break his oath with you as we planned?"

Dijana was not surprised to learn why Sharisse had been sent with her to meet her mate.

A faint blush rose to Sharisse's cheeks. "He did not, but I can say that he did and who will dare to accuse me of lying?"

Avar raised his hand and struck Sharisse across the cheek. Dijana gasped in surprise as Sharisse stumbled back. "You had one thing to accomplish, sister, and that was to seduce Lord Taeron. By the gods, female, no one would ever accuse the hero of Varoonya of lying! What Calabrian would believe a female over him?"

Balak sighed deeply when Sharisse looked to him for help. "My dear, you failed in the task I most needed you to perform. I have no further use for you." He nodded to Kai who watched them with arms folded over his chest, his handsome face expressionless. "You may have my daughter. Do with her as you will. I have no need of her any more."

Thinking that Kai was going to reach for her, Dijana looked frantically for any place to escape, but Kai reached out to seize Sharisse. "She will amuse me until Princess Dijana's blood has been purified." He leveled his dark gaze on Balak. "Make arrangements for regular feedings."

Sharisse did not seem to mind her new status. She tossed her dark hair and smirked at Dijana. "I may not have seduced Lord Taeron, but Dijana broke her own oath by mating with his human brother."

Avar grasped Dijana's arm to lead her away, but he looked at Sharisse. "We needed Lord Taeron to break his oath because then he would be disgraced in the eyes of the emperor. He could not then lead the imperial warriors back here." Avar looked at Dijana with disgust. "No one cares what this gods' cursed female says or does. She is an acknowledged whore like our mother."

She did not have the strength to retort or to fight as Avar spread his wings, and seizing Dijana around the waist, he took flight in the direction of Nidum. After landing on the top of the palace, he retracted his wings and pushed her towards the steps leading down to the living quarters. When she stumbled, he cursed her and grasped her upper arm in a punishing grip. Jerking her around, he struck her face, and when he threw her over his shoulder she lost her breath and reached out frantically to hold onto him as he moved down the steps.

He did not stop until he came to her chamber and he tossed her on the floor. "The elders want to see you. Make yourself presentable."

Her body ached and she tasted blood in her mouth, but she asked, "Why must I see the elders?" She hated the old men and women that made up the council of the queen almost as much as her father did. Since her mother had fled to her diversions in the northern palace, they had been counseling Balak. She knew that her father chafed at their interference in his rule, but he could not ignore them when challenging them meant open rebellion.

Before she had risen, the door opened and she raised her head to see Avar pulling Princess Chaela into the room, his grasp tight on her arm if the beautiful Calabrian's wince of pain were any indication. "Let me go!"

He shoved his wife into the room. "Make her presentable to meet the elders. Do it quickly."

Chaela straightened and turned to face him. "I am no servant!"

His backhand blow made her stumble back, but Chaela of Calabria had imperial training, so she quickly regained her balance and spun to face him in stance ready to fight. "I could kill you for that!"

Her husband snorted. "I would love for you to try, Calabrian bitch, then I could be rid of you." He drew a dagger from his belt and Dijana was shocked that he crouched to prepare for her attack. Dijana remembered when he had brought her back from Calabria, when he seemed happy with his beautiful wife, but after she had given him a son, a son without wings, he had grown distant with her. Dijana had heard that they did not even share a chamber.

Chaela relaxed in her stance and she smoothed her elegant gown before reaching up to wipe away the blood that had formed at the corner of her lips with the back of her hand. "All you needed to do, dear husband, was to ask and I would be happy to help."

His lip curled. "I will ask you for nothing. I will tell you what to do and you will do it. Isn't that what you Calabrian whores are good for?" Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and walked out.

The emperor's daughter stared at the door for a moment and then she sighed and went to Dijana. "By the gods, princess, what has happened to you?" Taking her arm, she gently drew Dijana to her feet and helped her to a chair near the fireplace. Dijana had not spoken much to Chaela in the years she had been in Teralon because Chaela had disdained her friendship upon arriving, preferring the company of Sharisse with whom she had more in common. Dijana had been disappointed because she had hoped to gain a sister from Avar's marriage, but she was not surprised to be overlooked.

Now Chaela put a pot of water over the fire and she took a cloth, wetting it and wiping Dijana's face. Her own was swelling from Avar's blow. "I suppose my husband is to thank for this welcome home."

"I thought I would displease my father because I did not bring Lord Taeron back," Dijana told her. "But he never wanted him here anyway."

Chaela stopped wiping and Dijana saw that tears had gathered in amber eyes that were like Prince Amyr's. "I prayed to the gods that Taeron would return to liberate me. Now I am sure that the gods do not listen to me. If only I had told him five years ago what I suspected they were doing, none of this would have happened! "

"I am sorry I did not bring him back," whispered Dijana. "I … I could not... I … I prefered another."

Chaela's lovely brows drew together and she resumed wiping her face. "How could you possibly prefer any male over Taeron of Lord Duo's house?" The other woman sighed and moved away to a wardrobe standing against the wall. She opened it and she was looking through the gowns when she said, "I grew up with him, you know. And when I was all of eight years old, I asked my father if I could marry him. I vow that every female at my father's court wanted him."

Dijana could not imagine what about the man could possibly inspire such feelings in the women. She had not been attracted to that buffoon at all.

Chaela returned to Dijana with a green and golden gown that she had not worn in many years. "You have become so thin, Dijana. And your color is frightful. Have you not been feeding?"

Dijana had refused to feed from the men on the ship that Kai had sent to her and he could not force her to do so. So she had not fed since the last time she had been with Stryfe. Dijana was afraid that if she did, the blood that she had taken from him and which seemed to protect her from Kai would be diluted.

"I fed from the scribe," she told Chaela, not knowing why she was confiding. "I … I mated with him."

Chaela stopped in front of her, her eyes wide with surprise. "You mated with Stryfe? Why in the name of the gods would you prefer him to Taeron?" She did not wait for her answer, but proceeded to help her take off the tunic and leggings, then washed her, moving her about like a helpless child.

After drying her, she slipped the gown on and left to find an ornate belt that she cinched around her waist. The back of the gown was open, but instead of the wings she had once been able to display proudly, she had the mangled flesh of the scars where they had once been. The elders had been angry when it happened, but her father had blamed it on the warlord and suggested that it made her an unworthy heir for her mother. But the elders had drawn to a corner of the room, discussed it briefly and decided that the loss of her wings was inconsequential when, in the annals of Teralonian history, there were queens whose wings had been damaged severely in battles and it did not affect their ability to rule.

Now Chaela touched her back and Dijana flinched away from her. "I hate my husband," she heard the other woman whisper. "He invited that vile creature to Teralon and he destroyed your lovely wings. I had hoped to bear a daughter with golden-tipped white wings like yours, but I know now that I will never have one."

Dijana wanted to tell her that she might one day bear Avar a female child, but given what she had just witnessed, Avar would never be welcome to mate with the Calabrian princess again. If he tried, they would probably kill each other.

"What of Kaerwen?" Dijana asked about her nephew. "Is he well? I have not seen him in many months."

She heard a sniff and Dijana turned to see tears rolling down Chaela's cheeks. "Avar took him away from me. He claimed it was for training and that I should understand because imperials begin training as children. But imperial children are not taken from their mothers that young! I have not seen him for many months either and every time I ask Avar for a chance to visit with him, he refuses. The elders will not listen to my pleas. They do not care about male children, especially a male child that cannot ever serve the queen as a winged warrior."

Chaela sighed deeply. "If only Avar would allow me to take Kaerwen and return to Calabria so that I can raise him and see him trained as an imperial. But he hates my father."

Dijana wanted to ask her why she did not tell her father what Avar was doing to her, but the door to her chamber opened and the subject of their discussion strode in. He glared at his wife until she looked away before turning his malevolent gaze on Dijana. "You look sickly. I do not want the elders accusing us of mistreating you, so you will say that Lord Taeron did this to you."

"I will not lie for you!" she dared to exclaimed hotly.

Avar crossed the room and he raised his hand to strike her, but he seemed to remember why he had come. Instead, he turned quickly and struck his wife, and because she had not anticipated the blow, she could not avoid it and she stumbled back, her head hitting the stones of the fireplace hearth. Dijana hurried to her and pulled her away from the fire, then she checked for a pulse and she thanked the gods that Chaela was still alive.

"Do you think the emperor will be happy when he learns of his daughter's death?" she demanded, the fight returning to her spirit. Her brother was a monster no better than Kai!

"The emperor has bigger problems than the whoring females of his house. I never wanted her for my wife; I wanted the first princess and this spoiled bitch was merely a diversion." He nudged her unconscious form with his boot. "I am sick of keeping her out of fear of the emperor. When he no longer sits his throne, I will cut her throat and put her useless corpse in the marsh for the swamp scarabs to feast upon."

"You bastard!"

Avar seized her arm and hauled her to the door. "Soon enough we will have no need of you either."


	40. Chapter 40 Balak and the council

**Chapter 40**

"You see, she is alive and well." Balak stood with his hand heavy on her shoulder. Before entering the council chamber, Avar had warned her harshly with a whisper in her ear to keep her mouth shut or he would be sure that she regretted every word she dared to utter. So Dijana did not speak as she stared at the six elders, two old male warriors and three women before whom she stood now with her father.

She was alive, but she was far from well and when one of the females pointed it out, her father snorted. "Of course she is not well! Her blood has been poisoned."

"By the fiend, Kai," pointed out Garest, one of the males.

"By the Calabrian," he argued with a glare at the elder.

Dijana had ceased to wonder at her father's audacity. The council could order his head removed for his boldness and yet they stood placidly like bovine, their faces expressionless before the man that was answerable to them.

"How do you know this is the Calabrian's doing?" Garest persisted. "Are you privy to information that we are not?"

Of course he was, thought Dijana, through Kai, but Balak would not tell them that since Kai was a reviled outlaw on Teralon. They did not know that Kai had a sumptuous room in the palace that he shared with Sharisse as a reward for what he had done. She wanted to tell them, but the elders were not armed and Balak could probably kill them with his bare hands. And Avar was armed just outside the door with the two guards whose loyalty was suspect. If they were loyal to the council they guarded, Avar would surprise them and kill them before they could act.

When Balak did not answer, the other male, Deryn turned his gaze to Dijana. The old warrior had never made secret his contempt for her, had even cast the one vote to remove her in favor of Sharisse after the Varoonyans had left. "What have you to say, female? Has the Calabrian poisoned your blood as Balak claims?"

"You will speak to Princess Dijana with respect!" snapped Garest.

"You overstep yourself, Deryn!" agreed Kaseja with an angry cry. The eldest of the females, she was the only one that had ever shown Dijana any sympathy. She had argued eloquently to keep Dijana in her position, that despite what had happened to her, she was not the first female of the ruling house to be abused during a Varoonyan incursion.

Now she turned her furious gaze on Balak. "And what of Neria? Have you sent word to her of the dishonor Calabria has done by refusing her firstborn, the child of Nykos?"

Her father rolled his shoulders in the effort to keep his wings retracted, but Dijana looked quickly at him. Child of Nykos? Who was Nykos?

"You swore to raise her as your own, and yet you have failed again and again to protect her," charged Garest.

Dijana's heart was beating rapidly and she could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "You … you are not my father?" Her world was becoming skewed as she realized that she was not who she thought she was. Did Sharisse have good reason to scorn her? Was she a bastard?

Balak ignored her. "Do you challenge my right? Has Neria challenged me?"

"We have no way of knowing what Neria wishes when she refuses to return from the northern palace," remarked Olwyn, another of the females who fixed Balak with an accusing stare. "Bring Neria to us and we will hear what she has to say."

"No one can make Neria do what she does not wish to do," scoffed Balak. "I have sent my men to escort her and they return again and again with her unpleasant words of refusal ringing in their ears."

The council fell silent for several moments as they exchanged glances and Dijana wondered what kind of woman Queen Neria was in addition to being an unfaithful wife.

Then Garest remarked, "If you had been a better mate for her, she would not have abandoned her duties."

The hand on her shoulder grew painful as he took out his ire on Dijana. "Are you satisfied that Princess Dijana has been returned to Teralon unharmed? What of Calabria's insult to Teralon?"

The elders drew together and moved away to discuss the issue just out of hearing and then they returned with their verdict. Kaseja responded for them. "We will abide by Neria's wishes. However, we do not believe that you can muster enough men to challenge the might of the Calabrian empire, certainly not lead by Warlord Taeron."

Balak smiled smugly. "I have been informed that Warlord Taeron has been taken prisoner beyond the frontier where he will be lost to the slave markets like all other Calabrians. And I believe I can find allies in Varoonya. With my winged warriors and the Varoonyans who are still stinging from Calabrian aggression, I can lead them to defeat Emperor Trey's imperial warriors."

Dijana had never seen imperial warriors in battle, but their prowess was legendary. She could not believe her father – nay Balak for she knew now why he had always hated her – could believe that he could stand against the might of Emperor Trey even without his warlord. He had many warlords, not the least his own imperial guard, Lord Taeron's father. Balak had lost his mind if he thought he could defeat them.

"You would dare to suggest an alliance with Varoonya?" snapped Kaseja angrily. "Who is leading them? You say that they resent the Calabrians and yet we have had reports that Lord Taeron had governed Varoonya capably and that he is favored by the people."

"There are many who do not!" scoffed Balak. "You receive the reports that the Calabrians want you to hear." His sly smile sicked Dijana who knew that his alliance was with the Varoonyan who had scores of thralls at his beck and call. "They will gladly join in seeking vengeance against those Calabrian dogs. It is time that Trey is put in his place!"

The same woman shook her head. "Calabria is too strong and the insult is hardly worth the losses we would sustain. We have not even recovered from the Varoonyan invasion and you would take your warriors against the people, the very men who liberated us? You have lost your mind, Balak, but then I suspected that long ago when you murdered Nykos."

Dijana gasped in shock to learn that the man she had always believed was her father had murdered the man that was. He did not even react to the accusation.

Olwyn waved her hand. "I would hear Balak's plan, Kaseja." All but Garest and Kaseja nodded in agreement. "Let him speak. This is not the first time that Calabria has slighted us. Avar was given the first princess, but Emperor Trey took back his word and gave the prize to Bayman instead. Princess Chaela has not given Avar a female child, and the gods have given us the sign that they do not favor the match. The wingless male she bore is of no use to us." She leaned towards Balak with a greedy light in her eyes. "What is your plan, Balak?"

Balak smiled at her. "I have allies in Calabria who have engineered an insurrection that will keep the empire in disorder until my forces arrive."

Dijana realized that Balak was a madman who preferred the warring chaos of the past to the peace that Emperor Trey had brought to the binary system.

"We will not commit our forces without the approval of Neria," insisted Kaseja. She narrowed her eyes at Balak and Dijana read threat in their depths.

"Neria is not here to speak for herself," argued Olwyn. "She has left Balak here to make decisions for her and it is our duty to counsel him. I agree with his plan."

"As do I," said Jaleila who had watched the proceeding quietly. "And I further demand that Dijana be stripped of her position. She is tainted beyond redemption."

"Agreed," confirmed Deryn and Ayrael, and Dijana saw Olwyn smiling with malicious delight. Dijana did not care about her position, but she did not want to be replaced by her duplicitous sister. Yet she dared not speak because she was sure that Avar would beat her senseless if not kill her especially since he would probably have the backing of more than half the council.

"You will not make any such changes, nor take Teralon to war without the approval of our lawful queen!" exclaimed Kaseja furiously.

"I agree with Kaseja. Bring her to us and she will make the final decision. As for the rest of you," said Garest. He looked at each of the elders in turn. "If you act in this matter without consulting her, the gods know what she will do to you. I doubt in the years she has been absent that her tongue has been dulled and I shudder to think what that female would do. Her mother was a weakling, but she has her father's blood and his temperament."

"It is too bad the man had a fondness for strong nectar or many things might not have come to pass had he not fallen drunkenly to his death after his wife's death." Kaseja glanced at Olwyn with accusation but the other woman showed no emotion. Dijana wondered what other secrets they were keeping from her, but Balak's grip on her was painful and she dared not rebel when most of the council stood against her.

"We will abide by what Neria wishes," stated Garest, and he glanced at the others, daring them to argue, but they remained silent. He looked back at Balak. "From her own lips, standing in this room. Do I make myself clear, Balak?"

Balak gave a curt bow, but Dijana was close enough to see the malevolent gaze with which he speared Kaseja and Garest. "As you wish."

He straightened and jerked Dijana closer to him as he headed to the door.

"In the meantime," said Kaseja to his back. "Keep Princess Dijana safe. She does not look well. I suggest you rectify it."

The man holding her stiffened, but he did not respond as he left the council chamber. Avar was waiting further down the hall and Balak shoved Dijana into his waiting hands. "That gods' cursed harpy is worse than Neria," muttered Balak.

"Kaseja?" When Balak nodded, Avar drew his dagger. "Give me the word, father, and I will put an end to her interference." Dijana was shocked that he would dare threaten any of the elders on the council.

Balak put up his hand. "Not yet. We still have need of the council, but once we have entered into war with Calabria, we will get rid of all of them and blame it on Calabrian assassins."

"The Calabrians would not employ assassins," pointed out Dijana with disgust.

Avar seized her chin in his hand and he shoved her hard against the wall behind her. The breath left her and pain shot through her head when it slammed against the rough stones. "You are a stupid female. What do you know of Calabrians?"

She tried to jerk her face from his fingers, but he dug them in and she knew she would be horribly bruised, and if she continued to try, he would probably break her jaw.

"Take her to her room. Then bring that worthless dog you mated to care for her." Balak walked ahead, leading them back to Dijana's room, and once there, Avar released her.

Dijana put as much space as she could between her and Balak, and she rubbed the places where Avar seemed to take delight in handling her roughly. She did not know where she found the courage, but she spoke to Balak.

"You are not my father?"

"Have I ever said so?" His lip curled as his eyes moved over her body, finding her lacking. If he were alive, I doubt even Nykos would claim such a worthless female as his daughter."

She opened her mouth to respond and then realized that he had never claimed her aloud. Dijana had always assumed that he was her father because he had never corrected her when she referred to him as such. "You killed my father?"

Balak took the dagger from his belt and ran his finger carefully along the edge. "With this very blade, in fact, in his nuptial bed as he sweated over that harpy. I was only too happy to finish for him and I did not realize I was too late, and you were born with Avar."

Dijana thought she was going to be sick. "My mother agreed to that?"

"Agreed? I cared not what Neria wanted. She should have chosen me, and because she did not, she got what she deserved. That bitch fought me with sharp talons, but I proved to her why males should rule Teralon. Shortly after your birth, I proved it again and was pleased that she gave me the daughter that should rule. But those old fools of the council would not deny you because you were born first, and you were the child of the male that Neria chose."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" demanded Dijana, hating him and hating the life he had subjected her to. "Why did you turn me over to Kai?"

"I cannot kill you," said Balak. "The council would only accept me as Neria's mate with my oath to keep you alive. Kai was supposed to kill you, but he wants you for himself." His disgusted sneer told her that he could not understand why. "Soon enough I will no longer have need of him. I had hoped that the Calabrian warlord would eliminate the Varoonyan, but now I am glad he did not because Kai has made good use of his friendship with Prince Staefyn."

Dijana clenched her fists in anger. "So you and Kai are behind Prince Staefyn's plotting? Whose idea was it to send our craft to the frontier?"

"Staefyn. He despises Taeron who he believes is his bastard brother. Since the Varoonyan conquest he has feared that his father will claim the warrior."

"Crown prince Amyr yet lives, so he should fear his brother's retribution instead," Dijana told him as Avar brought Chaela into the room, the latter walking docilely although she noted a reddening welt on her face that was in the form of a hand print.

Chaela gasped and hurried to her. "My brother Amyr is alive?!"

"When I left Norvana he was with Lord Taeron, the scribe Stryfe and his wife, Lady Quynn."

"His wife!" exclaimed the other woman with surprise. "But I had heard..."

"Enough!" shouted Balak. "Feed Dijana."

Chaela shrank back. "You have never asked me to do this before!"

"I will not feed from her," declared Dijana although it had been too long since she had taken blood and her body reacted predictably. Her mouth began to water.

"You will," predicted Balak and he nodded to Avar who drew his dagger and in a few long strides he was behind Chaela. Seizing her hair, he jerked her head back and slid the blade across her throat, making an incision from which blood bubbled forth.

Dijana nearly panted with need as she watched the blood, but she did not move forward.

"You are stubborn like your mother," stated Balak derisively. "If you do not feed from her and heal the wound, we will let her bleed out onto the floor where I am sure you will lap it up like the vile creature you are."

Dijana could see the terror mingled with shame in Chaela's eyes, shame that she was afraid to die. With a sob, Dijana lunged forward and drew in her blood, but she took only a couple of mouthfuls before she sealed the wound and pushed herself back.

The Calabrian princess' head lolled and her face was flushed as she became limp in Avar's grasp. He thrust her to the side and with a laugh, Balak caught her and lifted her. Without a word, he carried her from the room and Dijana tried to follow to stop him, but Avar seized her and threw her back.

"Do you know what he will do to your wife?" she demanded furiously.

"I let you suck her blood," he pointed out with disgust. "I have no need of her, and I don't care who has her." Turning on his heel, he walked out and after the door shut, she heard the sound of the bolt being thrown on the outside of the door.

That night Kai came to her in her dreams and she tried to resist, but her struggles only seemed to excite him. He told her that they would soon be together, that after a few days of taking the blood of the princess of Calabria, she would be cleansed for him. The following day, Avar brought Chaela to him again, and this time Chaela did not fight and Dijana could see that she was ashamed, that her spirit had surely been broken. Dijana wondered if it would be kinder to allow her to bleed to death when Avar cut her, but she sensed that the daughter of emperor Trey would want a chance to fight back.

After several days, Kai came to her room, but when he sank his sharp teeth into her shoulder where Stryfe had marked her, he released her immediately and fell back. His face looked as if it were melting, and he paused only long enough to give Dijana an astonished look before stumbling out of the room.

Balak hurried in moments later. "What have you done to the warlord?" He struck Dijana's face with his fist and she had not even recovered her balance when he struck her again. "You have killed him!" He struck her to the floor. "I needed him!" He was frothing with fury, and when she was lying on the floor, he kicked her repeatedly and probably would have killed her had Avar not thrown himself at him and knocked him away.

"Father, stop! We still need her!" He steadied Balak who was still shaking with rage. "The warlord is not dead."

Dijana had curled into a ball to protect herself from his next blow, and now she peeked out. Seeing the blood splattered on Balak's garment, his hands and face and even his boots, she was surprised that she was still alive. Her gown was damp with blood and her entire body felt as if it were on fire. This was how she had felt when she had awakened after Kai's departure when he had torn off her wings.

"He has killed Sharisse in his feeding," Avar told him, "but he has stopped the worst of the damage." Dijana wanted to feel grief for her sister, but she could not.

Balak rubbed his blood flecked face with his hands, and he spared a glance at Dijana before telling Avar to send Chaela to tend to her. Before leaving, he warned her not to harm Kai again and she heard him tell Avar to send Sharisse's head to the northern palace to warn Neria of the consequences of her activities. Now Dijana wondered about the woman she had been told had abandoned her. What was she doing that would make Balak threaten her in such a grisly manner?

Chaela sobbed as she cleaned the blood from Dijana, her tears dropping into the basin water which was soon as red as blood. "I wish I had my uncle's healing powers," she cried with frustration.

Her eyes were swollen and nearly closed, but she could see Chaela through the slits that remained, and despite the stinging pain from her cut lips, she managed to say, "Are you sure that you do not have powers? Your brother, Amyr, has powers as does his son, Yori, and your brother Staefyn."

Chaela paused in wringing out the cloth in the basin. "My brother has a son?"

Since that first day, Dijana's only contact with Chaela had been to take her blood, so now, despite the pain, she told Chaela about her stay on Norvana. When she told her of the suspicions of the Calabrians about her brother Staefyn, Chaela was outraged.

"My brother would never do such a thing!"

Dijana could never feel such loyalty to Avar even though they had shared their mother's womb. "I heard my father tell the elders that he had allies in Calabria who are mounting an insurrection against the emperor. Prince Amyr was sure of your brother's guilt. He and the other Calabrians were training with Lord Taeron on Norvana so that they could be ready to fight."

"Taeron," murmured Chaela with tearful regret. "If only ..."

She fell silent as she worked, and when she had cleaned Dijana's wounds and dressed her in a clean shift, she helped her to lie in her bed, but when Dijana expected her to leave, she lay down with her and she reached out to offer her wrist.

"Bite it," she urged. "You have lost a lot of blood. Balak will only bring me back later, but at least now I can do this on my own terms without fearing that I will die."

She hesitated and met Chaela's eyes. "Balak will still …."

"I know," said Chaela quickly as she looked away. "But this time I will fight him. I will not let that pig touch me again!"

Dijana tried not to hurt her and she took only enough blood to sustain her. Chaela did not leave and as they rested side by side, Chaela began to talk about Calabria, about the family she missed, of the regrets of her life. She felt abandoned by the gods and blamed herself for what she had allowed to happen with Avar. Her mother and father had offered her the option of refusing to marry Avar, but she had been convinced of her love. She admitted that she should have trusted her father, that if he was willing to suffer the shame to his house for her behavior he must have sensed the truth about Avar.

And when she had finished, Dijana felt closer to Chaela than she had to any other person except Stryfe, so she confided in Chaela about what had happened between them on Norvana, how she had fought the feelings that she should not have for the man that she could never be with, and when she had ultimately given in, she knew that she could never love another.

"I fear for him," she told Chaela as they lay facing each other in the light of the first sun. "He bonded with me and he told me that he will be in pain without me."

Chaela smiled indulgently at her. "Stryfe is human. He cannot bond with a female."

Dijana told her how often they had been together, how he confessed he could not concentrate when they were parted, and while Chaela agreed that he sounded as if he had bonded, she told her that she only knew that human males could mate with several females and knew nothing more about their mating behavior.

"I do not know Stryfe well. He had only just arrived on Calabria when I left for Teralon, but I know that he has studied the customs of my people extensively." Reaching out, she touched the place where Kai had bitten that was now completely healed but where a faint mark was still visible from the bite Stryfe had given her. "He seems to have gotten carried away. He marked you in the old way."

"The old way?"

Chaela explained to her that the tribesmen of the hills and plains claimed their mates in such a manner while imperials had an elaborate ceremony in which both the male and female placed blood in a chalice filled with water from the sacred hills. Thereafter, the male was bonded to the female and the female made a sacred oath to care for him all the days of her life.

"When I learned of the bonding in the old way," admitted Chaela, "I dreamed of a male who would want me so much that he would do such a primitive thing."

"It did not seem primitive to me," remarked Dijana as she remembered the moment.

Chaela pushed herself up with obvious reluctance. "I should go. Balak or Avar might be looking for me." She had just left the bed and was headed to the door when it opened to reveal Balak.

"You have fed her?" he demanded gruffly and Dijana knew he was angry to be excluded.

Chaela raised her chin. "I have, and I certainly have no need of you!"

He reached for her and dragged her against him. "Do you think I care?"

Dijana looked away as he buried his face in Chaela's neck and his hands moved over her body. She struggled against him, but he threw her down on the floor, and Dijana was horrified when he would have covered her body with his own had she not rolled and hopped to her feet. Dijana watched with amazement as the second princess of Calabria raced for the door, and when he tried to stop her, she leaped in the air and spun in midair to avoid his hands. She managed to strike his face with her feet and he stumbled back, his nose bloody. He lunged at her and she side-stepped him again with the legendary speed of the imperials, this time smacking his face with the heel of her hand and sweeping out her foot to drop him to the floor before she leaped back to land ready to fight again.

Balak rose and wiped his face with the back of his hand, staring at the blood, panting from the effort of trying to catch her. When he raised his head, his face was dark with malice. "You will regret that, Chaela of house Trey."

"Do your worst," she challenged him, already crouched and ready for another attack. "You have already proven that you are not a worthy adversary."

Suddenly Avar rushed into the room and as Chaela changed her stance to defensive, Dijana wondered if the smaller woman could actually hold them both off.

But Avar had not come to rescue his father. "Father, Neria escaped the northern palace! That bastard Roehan has turned against us. He provided her with a ship and an escort and they are already headed in the direction of Calabria. Kai has followed, but they have a head start and Roehan has abandoned the northern palace with his men."

"My father will send his imperials," boasted Chaela. "And when he finds out what you have done ..."

"Shut up, you dog!" Balak ran a nervous hand through his hair and then he looked at Avar. "We will have to raise our allies now. Roehan is probably gathering his winged warriors to fight for that harpy, and we can assume that she will return with the emperor's imperial warriors."

Avar turned to leave, but Balak stopped him. "Wait. I have something more important for you to do." When he raised his brow in question, Balak turned to look at Chaela. "Kill her son."

Dijana gasped in shock and Chaela cried out. "No! I beg of you! I will do anything! Anything you want!" She hurried to him and fell to her knees before Balak, pressing her face against his inner thigh in a wanton example of the lengths she would go to save her son. But he looked down at her with cold contempt before shaking her off and walking out.

Now Chaela hurried to Avar and desperately grasped his arm to keep him from going. "Please, Avar, do not do this! He is your son!"

There was no feeling in his eyes. "I wanted to kill the monstrosity when he was born, but my father told me that he might be useful in our alliance with Calabria. Now I do not have to suffer the shame of having produced a wingless male." Shoving her back, he slammed the door shut and the bolt was thrown to trap them both inside.

Chaela stared at it without moving, without even breathing, and then she crumpled into a heap.

Dijana sat on her bed, her eyes burning, as the horror of her life slammed against her and she opened her mouth to wail with anger and sorrow, but no sound came out. Everything about her was a lie! Balak was not her father, but a deranged beast who had killed her sire. Balak had claimed her mother over her father's corpse and after raping her again to produce a female child, he had imprisoned her in the northern palace. The mad warrior had so many supporters that he could get away with inviting his Varoonyan allies to invade and so many men and women had lost their lives all so that he could cover for the murder that Kai did not even commit.

Now Balak was taking the life of a helpless child. He was a being of pure evil and she despaired that anyone could stop him.


	41. Chapter 41 The second princess

**Chapter 41**

By the time Chaela regained consciousness, Dijana had managed to get her to the bed despite the pain from Balak's beating the previous day. At first, Chaela refused to believe that they could do anything so vile as to murder an innocent child, that Avar would not kill their son, that he could not bring himself to do it, but Dijana had seen the look in his eyes, the delight he felt at being given the opportunity to do what he had always wanted.

When Chaela blamed herself for what she had done to incur Balak's anger, there was nothing Dijana could say to convince her otherwise. Chaela told her that she should have realized what he was capable of and appeased him. Hadn't her mother tried to impress upon her that sometimes it was better to allow a male to have his way? Dijana doubted the emperor's wife was speaking about mollifying a madman by offering her body, but she did not say so as she held the grieving woman. If Balak was only trying to frighten her into submission, Chaela was sufficiently cowed because she intended to do anything he wanted to save her son.

Another day had come and gone and they both knew that Balak was not posturing to frighten Chaela. Her grief became rage and she declared that the emperor's vengeance would make Teralon run red with the blood of Balak and his supporters. Since they knew that Queen Neria would return with the imperial army, Chaela convinced herself that she would have her vengeance, that Taeron would serve up the justice of the gods on Balak. Dijana did not tell her that Lord Taeron was probably still trapped on Norvana, possibily sold into slavery if Balak could be believed, and even if he were not, Dijana had difficulty imagining him in battle, leading the most feared warriors in the binary system. But Chaela had convinced herself that it would happen and Dijana much preferred this bloodthirsty imperial female to the woman who had given up hope.

The following day the women of the palace came to tell Chaela that Prince Avar had informed them that his son had an accident during training. The child's body had been brought back to the palace, one of them sheepishly told her, and that they had taken the child to the roof to prepare. It had been Avar's place to tell his wife, and Dijana knew that the women were uncomfortable to be forced to face the grieving mother. Chaela must have harbored hope that Avar would not kill their son, and she still seemed to be in denial until she was standing over the body of her child now lying on a marble slab on the roof of the palace where he would be prepared for the funereal ritual.

As Chaela screamed in grief and threw herself over the small, stiff body, the other women began to wail. Dijana wept with them, then put her arms around Chaela as she clasped her son's lifeless body to her and rocked back and forth. When she had finally exhausted her grief, she gently laid him down on the slab then joined the women in washing him and rubbing him with perfumed oils that was a custom that Calabria and Teralon had in common. When they had finished dressing him, Chaela carried him to the slab overlooking the hills and valleys, and as the women prepared the pyre, Dijana helped Chaela light the scented candles before they stood waiting for Avar and his father as well as the council to attend the ceremony.

But no one came, and when Dijana sent one of the serving women to inquire of their absence, the woman returned to tell her that the council had fled the palace after receiving news that Queen Neria had escaped Teralon. Dijana realized then that they must have guessed, if not actually known, that Balak had imprisoned their queen and yet they carried on as if Dijana's mother were at fault by capriciously avoiding her duties. They had as much to fear from her return with Calabrian allies as Balak. As for Balak and Avar, they sent no excuse for their absence, but Dijana guessed by the look on the woman's face that their response was not something Chaela would want to hear. The serving women seemed uncomfortable and embarrassed for Chaela to be the only ones to attend the child's funeral, but Dijana took Chaela's hand and squeezed it to communicate that she shared in her grief.

With a sigh, Chaela took the torch in her unsteady hand and stepped to the slab where her child lay dressed in a fine tunic, his lifeless hands crossed over a toy dagger that had been a gift from the emperor. For a moment Chaela looked down upon her son and then she reached out to smooth his dark hair from his beautiful, lifeless face. "May the winds carry you to the gods," she murmured softly before she leaned down, kissed his forehead, then straightened to touch the torch to the pyre before stepping back to stand with Dijana.

As the fire quickly enveloped the body, Chaela swayed and Dijana quickly slid her arm around her to keep her from falling, and not caring that it was undignified, Chaela wept as she watched the fire consume her child. They remained holding each as the fire grew into an inferno, and even longer after it died away.

When the winds swept in from the southern plains as they did each evening, Chaela suddenly became alert and she straightened to watch with Dijana as the ashes swirled in the air above the slab before they were lifted high and carried away.

Dijana had never attended a funereal ceremony before, but she could tell by the gasps of wonderment of the women watching with them that what had happened was unusual.

But Chaela was smiling through her tears as she said, "He is with the ancestors."

Turning, she took Dijana's hands, and for a moment, she did not speak, but the look in her eyes told Dijana that she was already beginning to heal.

"I am," she told Dijana with a tremulous smile.

Dijana was surprised because she had not spoken, and then she realized that Chaela was holding her hands. Looking up at her face, she saw her joy.

"I have received my Guerani power." She hugged Dijana as she burst into tears and laughter all at once.

Later as they shared the meal prepared for the ceremony alone in Dijana's room where they had been escorted under guard, Chaela confided to Dijana that after she learned that her brothers had gained their powers, she had begun to wonder if the ancestors had passed over her because she was not worthy. Now she believed that she had not been ready for them and that losing Kaerwen had made her ready. She wondered aloud what humbling experience had triggered her brothers' powers.

Dijana snorted derisively. "I do not know your brother Staefyn, but I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing humbling about your brother Amyr. I am told that Lord Taeron saved his life and rescued him from wretched slavery, and yet he treated both him and Stryfe with disdain."

To her surprise, Chaela laughed. "That sounds like my brother. He has always been arrogant and conceited, but I assumed that all crown princes behaved in such a way because I had heard that my father could be just as bad when he was a boy. My mother straightened him out. Perhaps Lady Quynn will do the same for him."

"She did not appear to have much of an effect on him," Dijana told her, "except to annoy him. They did not behave as mates, but as adversaries, so I do not know how they produced their child."

Chaela smiled at Dijana. "You should know how that happens."

Dijana's cheeks heated. "I do, but I cannot imagine them together. I overheard them talking about a trance that they believe Staefyn drew them into."

The other woman sighed. "I will not believe my brother guilty of all that they have charged. I would sooner believe that Amyr dishonored Lord Duo's house than what they believe. Amyr certainly had it in him."

Several weeks passed, time in which they were confined to the upper level of the palace from which there was no hope of escape since Dijana had no wings and they were waited on by the wingless females while two garrulous warriors guarded the exit to the lower levels. Chaela spent the time practicing her powers by reading the thoughts of the females or healing any of their minor ailments. At first she was affected adversely by using her healing skills, but as she continued to try, she became more proficient. In the evenings, after being served their meal, Chaela readily offered Dijana her blood, and while she felt shame for taking it, she did not refuse. If she had any hope of escaping, she must regain her strength. Afterwards, Chaela could have returned to her own rooms, but she stayed to sleep with Dijana and she knew it was because she could sense with her powers that Dijana was afraid for them both if they were separated.

In all that time they had not seen Balak or Avar. The women serving them reported that they had left the palace and were trying to raise men to face a Calabrian invasion, and while they said nothing of the brewing revolt led by a man named Roehan, the women told them that Balak and Avar were trying to stir up the people against the very army that had freed them from the Varoonyans. Two of the elders, Garest and Kaseja, had been captured by Avar and after accusing them of colluding with the Calabrians, he publicly executed them as traitors with his own sword. But he had been mistaken if he had hoped to earn any support. He had overplayed his hand. The murder of the two elders, especially the benevolent Kaseja, had caused rioting in the royal city that had to be quelled with brutality. Chaela had been distressed because her powers now allowed her to feel the suffering of others, but she could not leave the palace to help and Dijana was afraid that if she did, she would only endanger herself either in leaving her open to attack by those that believed Calabria was planning an offensive or those that knew the truth but backed Balak.

Several days after the riots had ended and order restored, the tranquility of their daily routine was interrupted by a commotion in the corridor outside Dijana's chamber. She steeled herself for the intrusion, but when the door opened and Balak entered flanked by Avar and Kai, she felt her insides flip and her heart skip a beat in fear. Chaela reached out to take her hand and a calming wave flowed through her so she was able to face them without showing the fear that they had come to beat her again. She knew what each of those men were capable of.

"I thought you would like some news of Calabria," said Balak, his malicious gaze fixed on Chaela. He nodded to Kai who moved forward.

He glanced briefly at Dijana before turning his attention to Chaela. "Prince Amyr and his imperial guard have returned to Calabria, but the emperor repudiated his son and banished him to the second moon. He then ordered his own imperial guard, Lord Duo, to remain on the moon under suspicion of treason. Emperor Trey has taken Lord Taeron into his house and publicly claimed him as his own."

Chaela gasped in shock. "That cannot be true! You are lying! Lord Duo would never betray my father!"

Kai's smile sickened Dijana. "Of course it is not true, but the emperor is foolish in his love for his children, so he will believe anything Prince Staefyn tells him."

"You have done this!" accused Chaela in outrage. "You have enthralled my brother!"

Kai laughed. "He is not my thrall, but I could ask for no better. He was twisted long before I made his acquaintance by the realization that his mother is an acknowledged whore and his father a lying hypocrite." He smirked when Chaela did not respond, but Dijana sensed that Chaela was too enraged to speak. "The Lady Arora argued with the emperor over his infidelity with the whore Larya," he continued to report, "And after an acrimonious departure, her shuttle exploded, killing all aboard – the Lady Arora and all her children. The consensus at court is that Emperor Trey finally rid himself of his Guerani whore."

"No!" Chaela threw herself at Kai and before he could react, she grasped his hands, and after only a moment he threw her away and shrank back from her. She straightened. "You are a liar!" She turned to Balak and Avar who were now looking at Kai with surprise. "He did not tell you that it was a ruse that Lord Taeron set up to trap Prince Staefyn into betraying himself. My mother is not dead!"

"You are a sorceress!" cried Avar, drawing his dagger and advancing towards Chaela. "I will do what I should have long ago!"

His father swung out his arm to stop him as Chaela raised her own and Dijana could see that she was concentrating on gathering power.

"Stay away from her! We don't know what she is capable of."

"Yes," goaded Chaela. "And you cannot imagine what I would like to do to a man who would kill his own son."

Avar stepped back and for the first time, Dijana saw that something frightened him. She did not dare to hope that he felt any misgivings for what he had done.

"That harpy, Neria, has gathered the imperials to return," Balak told them. "After I defeat her allies and kill her, I will no longer have a need for you, Dijana. As for the sorceress," his eyes fell on Chaela. "After I have had my fill of her, I will make Emperor Trey pay dearly for her return."

With that said, he turned on his heel and left, Avar trailing behind after casting Chaela one last warning glare that was laced with fear. Kai remained long enough to come near Dijana although she noted that he gave Chaela a wide berth. She almost laughed aloud in realizing that there was something that frightened the powerful Varoonyan.

"What Balak did not tell you is that Queen Neria has recognized your marriage to Lord Taeron, Dijana. When he comes to Teralon, if he defeats those fools, and he will, then he will claim you as his wife, make no mistake." He came close and put his fingers under her chin to raise her face to look in her eyes and she did not have the will to resist. "And then you will help me take my revenge on him."

Releasing her after a lingering caress in which he was careful not to cut her with his sharp nails, he promised her with his gaze that they would be together later.

When the door closed on him, Dijana realized she was trembling, from fear of Kai or fear of Lord Taeron, she did not know. What of Stryfe? She knew nothing of his fate. Was he still on Norvana? Did he remain in the service of the emperor when his father had been banished? Kai had deliberately kept any news of him from her because he knew her feelings for him.

Chaela put her hands on her shoulders. "Do not fret, Dijana. I am sure that Stryfe is safe. He is my father's scribe and no one except the crown prince is better protected."

Moving away from her, Dijana went to the window and looked out to the valley that was green with fields worked by the wingless women. The scene was so peaceful but she knew that soon the valley would be overrun with soldiers, and corpses would litter the fields. That is how the valley looked after Lord Taeron had gone through it the last time, but this time it would not be Varoonyan thralls burning in noxious piles, it would be winged warriors.

"How … how can I be Lord Taeron's wife when …" Her heart ached to know that she would have no choice but to live as Lord Taeron's mate, and yet she would probably see his brother frequently. Her life with the Calabrian warlord would be miserable, and she would be heartbroken as she yearned for the man she could not have, never could have had. If she hadn't been with Stryfe, known his love, she could have borne this arranged marriage, but she had and now the prospect of letting Lord Taeron touch her sickened her.

"Laying with Lord Taeron will be no chore," Chaela told her. She did not even have to touch her to read her thoughts and at times, like now, she wished she would not intrude on her privacy. "I know of many females who have boasted of teaching him the ways of women, so he will please you."

"My heart belongs to Stryfe," Dijana told her. "I don't care if Lord Taeron can please me."

Chaela came to her and hugged her. "I am sorry, Dijana. I wish I was powerful enough to take away your memories of Norvana. Maybe then you could find happiness with Taeron."

That night she remained awake long after Chaela fell asleep as she thought of how her life was going to change if she survived the carnage of Balak's revolt. For the first time in her life she would meet the woman who had given her life, and she wondered if she would revile her because she was not as beautiful as Sharisse had been. Because there was a statue of Neria in the area called the Queen's Grotto, Dijana knew that Sharisse had been her image. Would her mother reject her? And did it matter when she was being given to Lord Taeron in payment for his service to Teralon?

When she finally fell asleep to jumbled thoughts of how she would try to bear lying with the Calabrian warlord, she came to awareness to find herself alone in her bedchamber, a flimsy gown draped over her shoulders but lying open over her naked body. Darkness surrounded the bed, and out of the darkness stepped a man that she recognized as Lord Taeron.

"Is this what you want, my Dijana?" It was Kai's voice although the body of the man approaching, shedding clothing as he did was still Lord Taeron. "Will you give me your pleasure as I touch you with this body?"

"Dijana?" Dijana spun to see Chaela enter into her dream.

Kai hissed and the vision quickly faded to be replaced by his true form. "Sorceress!"

Chaela hurried to step between Kai and the bed. "Stay back, demon!" A bright light surrounded them.

Dijana did not think he would go, but he staggered back quickly and she knew that he was terrified by Chaela and the powers she wielded to ward him off now.

"You will not always be with your protectress," Kai finally said as he glared past Chaela. "When you lay with your mate, I will come to you and she cannot be there to protect you then. Together you and I will destroy that bastard and you will be mine."

Then he disappeared and Dijana awoke to find Chaela leaning over her. She threw her arms around her and burst into tears. She could not be more thankful that Kai would no longer be able to violate her in her dreams, not with Chaela there to protect her.

The men did not visit them again and she learned from the women that the Calabrian warships were approaching so they were marching to war. Forces had been sent to the north, but Balak and Avar had taken the bulk of their army to the south to meet the warriors gathering to greet Queen Neria under Roehan's command. If Balak could defeat Roehan's army, the Calabrians had no reason to stay, and if they did defeat Neria, Balak would probably have no reason to keep Dijana alive.

For many days they had no news and Dijana was anxious about her future. At least she no longer had to put up with Kai who did not even try to enter her dreams. News from the battle fronts ceased to reach the palace and Chaela told her it was because a battalion of dark clad warriors had surrounded Nidum in advance of the imperial army.

Several weeks into the campaign, Chaela was standing at the window when she cried out excitedly. "I see them! They are at the edge of the marshlands! The imperial warriors have broken through!" She spun to look at Dijana. "Soon! It will be over soon!"

Dijana joined her at the window to see what had excited her and watched with her as men poured into the valley. A movement from above drew their attention and Chaela gasped in shock as a dragon flew over the palace breathing fire.

"By the gods!" exclaimed Chaela in awe. The dragon circled again, its great wings creating wind as they flapped and it headed straight for the window at which they were standing.

Although she had seen the dragon before, Dijana still fell back in fear, but Chaela remained at the window, bravely facing the gigantic creature. He stopped to hover before the window, his wings slowed to keep him in place. His mysterious eyes were on Chaela who stood before him, but when she reached out her hand to him, he flapped his great wings and flew away blowing fire.

"Jeshed," Chaela said in awe. "That is his name."

Dijana remembered the kind man at the banquet and how her brief contact with him had made her feel so much better. He had given her the courage to reach out to Stryfe, to accept the happiness he offered. Dijana could not believe the man was the dragon, despite Stryfe's claim.

Chaela turned to look at Dijana. "He told me that the paladin will liberate us soon."

"You spoke to the dragon?" asked Dijana although she should not be amazed by anything Chaela did now that she had Guerani power.

Chaela laughed. "Not really speak, but we communicated. He told me that Taeron is eager to claim you, but they must wait until your mother's army drives Balak back to Nidum."

"Is Stryfe with them?" she could not help asking. She did not care about the paladin, Lord Taeron.

"I am sure he is. My father would not send Taeron with imperial warriors and not expect a detailed report. Jeshed told me that my mother and my sisters and brother are safe on Bayman with my sister Shamara." Now Chaela's smile faded. "And he told me that assassins have tried to kill Taeron several times. I can no longer trust Staefyn."

"I guess Calabrians do use assassins," murmured Dijana.

"Only dishonorable Calabrians," Chaela told her. "Now Staefyn has no honor."

Only three days after the imperial army had emerged from the marshlands, Balak's forces were spotted heading back to Nidum. The women who were allowed to come and go at will informed them that the city was in chaos as they prepared for a siege under orders from Balak's commanders, but the people were revolting because they would not fight against their lawful queen. When Chaela told her from her place at the window that the warriors were preparing for battle, Dijana joined her to watch and she was horrified when what was left of Balak's forces met the imperial guard of Calabria. Their wings were useless against them when the imperials could drag them down as they either leaped high or were propelled in the air by others, and the only injury they could inflict upon them was when their chakrams ricocheted off the blades of their swords.

The force of dark clad warriors that had cut off the city from Balak's men fought ferociously and Chaela told Dijana that they were clansmen from the second moon. They had come to Teralon to fight with Lord Taeron when he liberated them from the Varoonyans, but Dijana had not seen the fierce warriors.

And in the thick of the battle, in the valley far below, they could see a warrior that seemed to be surrounded with a glowing, bright golden light as he swung a mighty sword that felled every man that came against him.

"The paladin," breathed Chaela in awe. "Lord Taeron."

Dijana did not want to be impressed by the warrior that would be her husband, but he moved with godly speed and used his weapons with unerring accuracy. She could not believe he was the same buffoon that had irritated her with his foolish behavior on Norvana. The only thing that he had done that impressed her was see through Sharisse. But now she was mesmerized by the warlord of Calabria.

The dragon circled the battlefield but he did not breathe fire for which Dijana was thankful because he would have killed so many more winged warriors, many of whom were surrendering. Then Dijana saw another force coming from the south and she should not have been amazed to see them led by a woman, but the sight of Queen Neria leading her own army astonished Dijana when she had been led to believe all her life that her mother had disdained her place for her pleasures. The woman fought side by side with a magnificent warrior that she presumed was Roehan, the man that helped bring about her escape and had gathered the forces that would bring her back to her rightful place ruling Teralon.

The battle raged all afternoon, but Dijana could not take her eyes off the carnage and while Chaela fretted for the safety of her brother who she could sense on the battlefield, Dijana asked the gods to protect Stryfe if he was among the Calabrians. She certainly had no need to worry about Lord Taeron because she began to wonder if he was a god. By the time the first sun had set, the battle was over and as Balak's forces were being rounded up, the imperial warriors were pouring into the city that had opened its gates to welcome them.

Chaela could not contain her excitement. "We are going to be rescued!"

And Dijana would have to give herself to the golden warlord.

The door to her chamber slammed open and Balak stumbled in, his eyes crazed, his clothing bloody, one of his wings damaged. "You are not saved yet, you Calabrian whore!" He looked over his shoulder. "Take her above. We may yet be able to offer her in exchange for our lives."

Chaela raised her hands to try to throw up the protection spell she had used against Kai, but Avar's wings made him faster and he flew across the room, reaching her before she could act. His fist was raised and Dijana tried to stop him by seizing his wing, but he kicked her away as he smashed Chaela in the face. Chaela would have crumpled to the floor had Avar not seized her around the waist, and he threw her over his shoulder before striding from the room.

Balak came to Dijana and seized her arm. "You think I will let you live? The harpy will watch you die and then her line will be ended."

She struggled, but he struck her so hard that her teeth rattled and when she was stunned, he trapped her by locking her neck under his beefy arm. When she tried to escape, he increased the pressure to cut off her breath until she became dizzy, and when she could not fight, he dragged her up the steep steps to the roof. Once they were there, he forced her to her knees and after seizing a handful of her now shoulder-length hair, he yanked her head back and held a blade to her neck.

Although his grip was tight, he was trembling, stinking of blood and sweat and fear. Dijana feared he would cut off her head, but she shifted her gaze to where Avar was standing with Chaela. Her brother was bleeding from several cuts, his blood dripping on Chaela who was moaning as she returned to consciousness.

Because they had come to the roof, Dijana expected her mother to fly in from above, but noise from the steps made her shift her gaze to the entrance to the roof. Several men burst out with swords raised and following behind them was the woman they awaited.

This was the first time Dijana had seen her mother although she had been told that Neria had cared for her as an infant, had even nursed her at her own breast instead of handing her over to a nursemaid. Dijana was not surprised that the beautiful winged female had lustrous dark hair that was now hanging down her back in a braid. Her creamy skin was flawless, and she did not have a matron's form after having borne three children who were grown. She was curvaceous and lean, and every bit as threatening as her warriors as she fingered chakrams hanging from her belt.

Behind her appeared a golden-haired warrior that towered over her, his wide wings spread out and Dijana was shocked to see that his feathers were tipped with golden. Holding her breath, fearing what she would see, she searched the handsome warriors face, darkly kissed by the sun and when she saw his emerald green eyes, her stomach dropped and she felt disoriented. She did not know this man, and yet she knew who he was. He was her father.

Balak seemed to have come up with the same conclusion that Dijana had drawn and he laughed in maniacal laughter. "By the gods, Neria, this is rich! You dare to bring your lover in my presence?" He shook Dijana and she feared he would cut her. "I wondered why you never complained about your duty in the northern palace! You must have laughed, Roehan, when I promoted you to commander. I thought you were doing an admirable job when all along you were screwing my wife!"

"Wife?" snapped Neria furiously. "I was never your wife! Only the council spoke the words to accept you. I never did!"

Balak growled at her, then spoke to Roehan. "What do you think of your bastard, Roehan? Did I raise her well? The gods know I had little to work with."

"Shut up!" snarled the powerful male standing behind Neria who put out her hand to stop him from advancing.

Queen Neria's chin was raised and her gaze was contemptuous as she looked at Balak. "Let my daughter go and I will give you an honorable death. If you do not, I will give you to the imperials to do with as they please. I hope they have chosen a suitable spot in the marshlands for you to meet your end."

Balak sucked in his breath and Dijana strained her gaze to see the men holding swords. She recognized Lord Taeron standing towards the back of the group, but Stryfe was standing at the front with Prince Amyr behind him. Stryfe was so bloody that even his hair was matted to him and the sword that he held before him was still dripping with blood. Had he fought? Had he been injured? Despite her own danger, she worried about him.

"Let my mate go," Stryfe said, his tone low and ominous.

"I suggest you do as he says," added Neria coolly. "I have seen him eviscerate three men with a single stroke, so you will pose no challenge to him."

Balak scraped her neck with his blade and she felt blood trickle down. "I have an advantage. He will never act against me while I hold …"

His body jerked and suddenly Dijana was falling forward as he fell backward, and catching herself before her face hit the hard ground, she turned quickly to see that Balak had a dagger buried deeply in the shoulder of the arm that had held the knife to her throat while another dagger was embedded to the hilt between his eyes.

"Very efficient, my lord prince," Dijana heard her mother say as the lifeless body sagged back and fell over the edge of the roof.

"I suppose you are going to expect me to retrieve your daggers," she heard Prince Amyr say wryly. It was the first time she had ever heard him sound anything but pompous and arrogant.

She turned to see Stryfe advancing towards her. He had put away his sword and now he held out a bloody hand to her. She scrambled away, confused, disoriented and she looked back at Lord Taeron who seemed more anxious than angry that his brother was offering her comfort. Did he already know about their relationship? Did he even care?

Chaela became aware of her surroundings and she struggled against the hold her husband had on her. "Taeron! By the gods, Taeron! You have come!"

Stryfe turned to look at her and as he did, he drew his sword so quickly that Dijana could not even follow the movement and she fell back at the sight of him holding the blade.

Her heart seemed to stop beating as the truth came to her.

He was not Stryfe.

He was Lord Taeron!

She tried to rise, but her body would not function, and all she could do was watch helplessly as Avar dragged Chaela to the edge of the roof. "You think you have won?" he raved, spitting at the Calabrian approaching him with his deadly sword coated with blood.

"Let Princess Chaela go," he ordered Avar, his tone ominous, the tone of a warrior, not the tone of a scribe, certainly not the gentle tone of a lover, her mate. Dijana wanted to cry, to scream, but she could not even react.

"What will you do?" Avar laughed hysterically, but he was shaking with fear.

"Kill him, Chaela," ordered Lord Taeron with no feeling.

"I … I cannot, Taeron." There were tears in Chaela's eyes and Dijana knew that she feared losing her powers for such a violent act. Since Kaerwen's death, she had become a different person, empathetic, gentle and even though Avar had murdered her son, she could not harm him. She was a Guerani healer who must preserve life.

Lord Taeron blew out his breath. "Not you too, Chaela?"

She smiled tremulously at him but she only nodded.

"Amyr?"

"I can kill in battle to protect you, but this ..."

Neria put her hands on her hips. "Is one of you Calabrian brutes going to kill this misbegotten bastard? My lord prince? You have shown yourself capable on many occasions."

Dijana looked at Amyr, but Lord Taeron answered her query. "I am a warrior, not an executioner." She blinked in surprise before she remembered that Kai had told them of his change in status.

"You could have fooled me a moment ago," grumbled Roehan.

"He threatened my mate. I had no control over my actions," stated Lord Taeron before he looked at Neria. "I will not kill your son."

"Shut up!" Avar licked his lips. "None of you is going to kill me!" He shoved Chaela and she stumbled over the edge of the high tower.

Dijana screamed and Taeron surged forward but he was too late to catch Chaela. Avar leapt into the air to fly away, but Neria went to the edge, and calmly pulling the chakrams from her hip she let several fly with precision that efficiently sliced the wings from Avar's back. He screamed in agony as he plummeted to his death in the valley below.

Sobbing for her friend, Dijana crawled to the edge of the tower, willing Chaela to be alive, to have found some foothold to grasp to break her fall even though she knew the tower was designed to prevent enemies from climbing. Before she reached the edge, she felt great winds and she fell back in wonder as the dragon rose before them with Chaela on his back.

The last thing Dijana heard before fainting in relief was the voice of the man she had thought was Lord Taeron but she now knew was the emperor's scribe. "Now the real fun begins."


	42. Chapter 42 Dijana meets Neria

**Chapter 42**

When Dijana awoke, the first person she saw was Stryfe, nay, Lord Prince Taeron, sitting on a chair beside her bed. He must have been watching her closely, because when she opened her eyes, he quickly rose to face her. Dijana shot up and scrambled back from him, her heart beating rapidly as she looked at the man she realized she did not know despite all that they had shared. He was still filthy from battle, and Dijana became aware of the blood staining her own clothing from when he must have carried her to this room. She wanted to shout at him to never touch her again, to leave her sight and never return, but her heart seemed to shatter in her chest when she met his deep purple gaze.

"You are frightening her." Queen Neria came forward and Dijana tore her gaze from Taeron's to look at her. She was another person she did not know, and behind her lurked the third person who was a stranger to her. Three people she should know but she did not: her mate, her mother and her father. Dijana wanted them all gone because one way or another they were responsible for the awful life to which she had been subjected to for many years.

"I really don't think she is all that frightened," drawled the man standing near Taeron, and Dijana glared at Prince Amyr. She wanted to shout at him to go to the netherworld, to stop intruding on her privacy with his Guerani powers.

"Please give Dijana some time alone." At least Chaela was someone she knew, and while she was probably reading her feelings, she was helping her. "Amyr, take Taeron somewhere and clean him up, and I am sorry, your highness, but I think you should go too. Let me talk to Dijana for a few moments."

The queen sniffed. "I do not appreciate being dismissed from my own daughter's bedside."

The golden winged warrior came to her and put his hands on her delicate shoulders. "Come along, Neria, there is much to do. We have to round up the council."

Her mother nodded regally. "I shall enjoy facing them." Before leaving she fixed Dijana with her blue gaze. "I expect you to be ready to receive me within the hour." Without waiting for a response, she walked out with her lover trailing behind her.

"Let's go, brother," she heard the scribe say. How did she ever believe he was a warrior?

Dijana had not looked back at him, but she knew that Taeron was staring at her. She did not need to be Guerani to know that he feared her reaction to learning his true identity. Thinking of his lies, she felt tears gather in her eyes, tears of pain and tears of anger.

Amyr drew Taeron back. "I think I heard something about a bath and a change of clothing. I don't know about you, brother, but I could use it." And then she heard him say in a low voice that the Calabrian dog probably thought she could not hear, "In a few moments you really don't want to be anywhere near her."

Roiling with anger, Dijana still did not look and but she heard him moving away, albeit reluctantly, and Chaela left her side as well for a few moments. After she heard the door close, Dijana burst into tears and was grateful when Chaela hurried back to sit on the bed and draw her into an embrace. Chaela was the only person she trusted anymore, the only person she even knew.

"I wish I could take the pain from you," Chaela told her as she wiped Dijana's face with a cloth. "I am so sorry that you have been hurt. If only I had known … "

Dijana swiped at the tears that spilled over her lashes. "I trusted him! I believed everything he told me and all along he was just seducing me!"

"Taeron is not like that!" exclaimed Chaela, and Dijana could see that she was shocked by her accusation.

"He could have told me any time who he really was! When I think of all the things I said to him..." Dijana burst into tears again. After what Kai had done to her, she had vowed never to trust a man again, and then she had fallen for the first handsome man to smile at her. But this time she had fallen in love and his betrayal hurt worse than having the wings torn from her back. She did not think she could ever forgive Taeron for his lies.

By the time her mother returned, Chaela had helped her regain her composure, and she had helped her bathe and dress so that she could properly face her mother. The door opened and two winged warriors stepped in as escort before Neria entered, her own wings spread out behind her. She had changed from her bloody battledress into an elegant gown, but she was certainly no less daunting.

"Leave us," she said imperiously to Chaela.

"Stay," Dijana countermanded.

Chaela looked between the two and although she was obviously intimidated by Dijana's fearsome, beautiful mother, she straightened to face her. "I am not a servant to be ordered about. I am Princess Chaela of house Trey. I will stay with my friend."

The queen looked down her nose at Chaela for a moment in an attempt to unnerve her, but Chaela stood her ground. After a moment in which they tested each other with a stare, Neria said, "I met your mother on Calabria. She is a fierce warrior that should be proud to call you daughter." She looked from Chaela who was smiling at the compliment. "I suppose you have many questions," she said to Dijana.

Dijana met her gaze unblinking. "No, I do not."

Neria ignored her response. "Like you, I did not want the mate chosen for me. My mother died when I was a small child and the council controlled my life. When I came of age, they told me to choose between the two strongest warriors for my mate, Nykos and Balak. They were both much older than me and I did not like them, but I dared not tell the council that I was in love with a palace guard."

She paused as if she would give Dijana a chance to speak, but it was only for her to take a breath. "I chose Nykos because I was sure that he would overlook my feelings for another once I gave him a child. But Balak was angry that I rejected him." Now she looked away and Dijana wondered if she was really seeing shame. "That night, when I was suffering my fumbling husband's mating efforts, Balak burst in and stabbed him in the back. Before I even realized what happened, he was raping me."

Her gaze met Dijana's. "I am sorry, Dijana, if this causes you to feel shame when the shame is mine. After Balak fell asleep, a slipped out of my bridal chamber and I went to Roehan. And every night thereafter, when Balak was snoring, I went to your father. I had no way of knowing who your father was when you were born, not when your feathers had not fully formed. Nykos was fair as you were, so I accepted what the council decreed when they gave me to Balak under the condition that he accept Nyko's child."

Dijana could not believe what her mother was admitting and even Chaela seemed to be stunned.

"The gods have punished me cruelly for what I did," concluded her mother.

"Why did you wait so long to rescue me?" demanded Dijana. "Do you have any idea what that monster did to me? All along I thought he was my father and no one told me differently!"

Neria flinched. "I … I did not know ..."

"Did not know what? That I was Roehan's child and not Nyko's?" Dijana was furious. "I was still your daughter!"

Her mother was taken aback by her anger. "I did not have enough support until after the Varoonyan attack. When the emperor sent his warriors, I took advantage of the chaos to contact Trey. I knew that I must make an alliance with him or I would never escape. Because his daughter was married to Avar, I had no way of knowing if he would back my worthless son or help me regain my throne. I arranged your marriage to a Calabrian warlord and I planned for him to take you away, but I did not know he had accepted until I learned that Lord Taeron had come for you."

"Not the only plan of yours to backfire," snapped Dijana irritably. She hated hearing that she was a pawn.

Neria straightened and raised her chin. "I will not be spoken to in this manner! I am still your mother."

"I have no mother! And I have no mate! You can tell that Calabrian dog that he can go to the netherworld along with his lying bastard brother and that odious imperial princeling!" Dijana spun on her heel and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. "I hate all of you!"

A moment of silence ensued, and then Neria said, "We have found what is left of the council. Olwyn, of course, and three others. You can present your case to them. If they agree to your request, they will rescind the marriage agreement with Calabria."

"I hate them too," Dijana muttered mutinously. They had never acted in her best interest, and the two that had ever shown her any kindness were dead.

"As do I, my dear daughter, but they are a necessary evil." She knew she had gone when the door closed.

Chaela did not speak and when Dijana looked at her, her friend did not hide her shock. "You would do that to Taeron? He has bonded to you."

"Then he should not have lied!" cried Dijana in frustration, denying the ache she felt to imagine what her rejection would do to him.

The other woman opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. "I suppose you do not wish to share the meal with them in the hall."

"Did you use your Guerani powers to know that?" asked Dijana with a frown.

"No, my intuition as a woman."

Chaela glanced anxiously at the door, so Dijana forced herself to smile. "You must want to be with your brother." She squeezed her hands. "You have much to talk about."

Her friend smiled gratefully. "It is very strange to have Amyr's voice in my head, and he has never been much of a brother until today." Tears glistened in Chaela's amber gaze. "His magic is stronger than mine, and he gave me no small amount of comfort when he learned of Kaerwen."

She laughed then. "Did you see him trailing after Taeron like a puppy? I cannot believe it! He used to say such cruel things to Taeron and now he calls him 'lord prince'."

Dijana tried to smile, but she could not when she felt like a fool after they had all lied to hide Lord Prince Taeron's identity from her on Norvana. "You should spend time with them. Arrange to have a meal sent to me and we can talk later."

Chaela nearly skipped to the door and Dijana felt a stab of envy. "I will see you later, then."

When she was gone, Dijana returned to her bed and she tried not to cry, but the tears rolled down her cheeks anyway. She had to get some sleep so that she could face the council, and this time they would listen to her. Disgusted to be Roehan's bastard, she was consoled by imagining his imposing presence would frighten the council into giving her whatever she wanted. What she wanted was to reject that Calabrian liar so that she could go on with her life.

Then why did she feel that her life was on the verge of ending?

After ushering Taeron out of Dijana's chamber, Amyr had gone in search of Chaela, and Stryfe had gone with him so that he could hear whatever she had to say about the events of the last few months. Darlac remained with him and had chased away the curious females that had offered to help him bathe. The last thing he wanted was for Dijana to think he was cavorting with females in his bath. He was not up to cavorting with anyone at the moment, not even Dijana if she were inclined to consider him. Remembering the look on her face when she had awakened, he might run out of his medicine before she looked kindly upon him again.

Darlac poured a bucket of water over Taeron's head, and he squeezed out the soap before he stood and reached out blindly for the towel Darlac handed to him. He was glad to get out of the tub that was far too small for him, and this process of pouring water from buckets was little better than washing on a battlefield. He looked forward to returning to Calabria so he could soak in the bathing pool in his chamber at the palace.

"I see that you have bathed, my lord prince."

He blinked the water from his eyes to see Queen Neria standing in the room, her blue gaze moving over his naked body. Taeron lunged for the towel, but he slipped on the wet floor, and yet as he fell, he managed to wrap the towel around his waist. With Darlac helping him from the floor, he could not be less dignified and he could see the humor in the older warrior's eyes.

"And I see that you have the proper parts to please my daughter." Her brows arched high. "Very proper parts."

Darlac chuckled which earned him a glare from the queen.

"Get out," she ordered him.

"My lord prince?" He looked at Taeron for approval.

Taeron wasn't sure he wanted to be left with Dijana's mother given what they had learned that day. Her behavior with males almost made his mother's look tame, but he doubted she would try to seduce him so he nodded to Darlac to obey the queen. He still hesitated for a moment, and when he left, it was to take a position just outside the door which he did not close.

Neria glanced at the door, then back to Taeron with a curl to her lip. "Does he think that I am going to violate you?"

"It is his duty to guard me."

She made a derisive sound. "You need a guard? Even Prince Amyr is a useless apendage to you."

He stiffened. "I am honored to fight with him at my side."

"At your side? You mean with him twenty paces behind you wading through the entrails of your enemies."

Taeron went to the bench over which a clean tunic lay. Turning his back on the woman, he removed the towel and slipped the tunic over his head. He did not expect her to comment, but he should have known better.

"You are very well formed, my lord prince, and you have mated with my daughter, so the only reason that I can imagine for her rejection of you is that you failed to please her."

Gods curse the female! Not this again! "I assure you ..."

She did not give him a chance to finish. "She plans to ask the council to reject the provision of the treaty with Calabria that calls for your marriage."

Taeron felt acute pain to his heart, but he did not show her mother how hurt he was by Dijana's rejection. "If that is what she truly wants ..."

"I do not care what she wants," she interrupted him. Before he could tell her that what Dijana wanted was the most important thing to him regardless of how it affected him, she went on. "Dijana is in no frame of mind to make the kind of decision that will not only affect the rest of her life, but yours as well."

"I am not concerned about how this affects me," Taeron told her. He had finished dressing as she spoke, conscious that she watched him. He was tired after the day's fighting and wanted nothing more than to have his meal and sleep on a comfortable bed for the first time in many weeks. He had not dared to imagine that he would be spending this night with Dijana, so he had already taken his medicine.

"You should be. We cannot predict how the council will rule, but given what has happened to my daughter, their sense of fairness, what little there is, will sway them to her demand." She came closer and Taeron checked the urge to stumble back. Her wings flew out and he swallowed nervously. "Under no circumstances will you leave Teralon without my daughter!"

Turning on her heel, she walked out, snapping her wings back so that she could get through the door.

Did that mean she would not let him leave Teralon? He had responsibilities on Calabria. And how would he go about countering her demands to a council that would be predisposed to granting her wishes?

Throughout the celebration meal which Dijana did not attend, Taeron could not imagine what he could say to the council of elders that would convince them to honor the treaty as agreed to by Queen Neria and Emperor Trey. He barely paid attention to the queen's rousing victory speech and when she thanked him for his efforts he almost did not acknowledge her. Amyr looked at him curiously and Taeron wondered if he read his mind and wished he would not intrude on his private thoughts. If Quynn were there, she could distract him, but she had not come to the palace so she must be busy preparing the fleet transports for departure. The banquet lasted almost all night, and when Taeron finally escaped to his chamber, he was joined by Amyr, Stryfe and Chaela. He was glad that Chaela had come because he wanted to tell her how sorry he was that he had not realized how miserable she was in her marriage. When she told him what Avar had done to her son, he held her in a consoling embrace and while there was still grief in her eyes, he could see that the gods had granted her comfort.

Taeron thought that Avar got exactly what he had deserved. What was left of his body was burned on a pyre in the valley along with Balak and countless others who had warred against their lawful queen. Taeron knew that Trey would be devastated by what had happened to his oldest grandson. He had never held Kaerwen, but he had contacted Teralon weekly to see his grandson and he frequently sent gifts. Before his departure, Trey had asked Taeron to bring Chaela and Kaerwen back to Calabria, and now, in addition to dealing with Staefyn's rebellion he would have to suffer the news of his grandson's murder.

When they had finished talking about Kaerwen, Chaela turned to the subject he had been avoiding. "Dijana is very angry and hurt," she told him with a chastizing look.

"I don't think anyone thought it a good idea for you to lie about your identity," remarked Stryfe and Taeron frowned at him because his brother shared in the guilt. He had been a willing participant in the deception. If Stryfe had admitted to the mistake, Taeron might have been embarrassed, but that would not have changed Dijana's actions.

"Did someone tell her it was a good idea to lie about hers?" He instantly felt guilty for what he had said.

"Well," said Amyr, "I think you have a defense."

"I am not going to say such a thing to the council! Do you know how that will make her look?" Taeron could not even imagine how she would feel about having that thrown in her face. What they had done to each other was between them, not the business of a council of elders. When they returned to Calabria together, they could sort this mess out in private.

"The princeling is right," said Stryfe. "You are going to have to play dirty with her or you are going to leave Teralon without her."

"I would not want to experience your future without your bonded mate," added Amyr.

When Taeron felt anxious at the thought, Chaela put her hand over his. "I know how much Dijana loved the Stryfe she knew, Taeron. You are not much of a deceiver, so I know you were not trying to hurt or humiliate her. She needs a chance to know you as Taeron, to realize that she loves you no matter who you are."

He squeezed her hand. Chaela was more his sister than Quynn because they were born only months apart and he had spent most of his life with her. "Thank you for being Dijana's friend."

"I have been letting her feed from me and I have protected her dreams from that bastard, Kai."

"Kai!" Taeron burned with fury. "What has he done to her?" He had hoped to meet the Varoonyan in battle, but the coward had not faced him.

"He tried to feed from her, but her blood poisoned him," she told him. "Is it possible that the magic in your blood is protecting her?"

"I have no magic," insisted Taeron, annoyed that she would bring it up, and yet he was relieved that Dijana had not been abused by the creature.

"Whatever the reason, her blood made his skin burn, so he dared not touch her. He went to her in her dreams, and Dijana would not tell me what he did to her, but I know that it caused her shame."

"Where is Kai?" he demanded, his hand closed around the hilt of his sword. He would hunt him tonight if Chaela could tell him where the warlord hid.

"We have not seen him since he came to tell us what happened on Calabria. He had followed Queen Neria when she escaped and spent several weeks there."

"We have no way of knowing where he is," said Amyr. "I should go see Quynn. She has been busy preparing for departure and I haven't heard from her or Jeshed all day, so she must be busy."

"Last I saw of her," remarked Stryfe, "she was organizing the evacuation of the more severely wounded."

"I should be helping." Amyr rose and he looked at Chaela. "Do you wish to join me? Perhaps we will run into Jeshed and you can meet him in his human form."

"Human form? The dragon is a human?" Chaela was amazed and Taeron caught himself smiling. After Jeshed saved her life, he had gently put her on the roof and flew away, and since then they had not seen him.

"Come along sister, you have to meet Taeron's brother."

"Taeron's brother?" She looked from Amyr to Taeron. "You have another brother?"

Taeron grimmaced. "Amyr will explain. I am not sure anyone understands, not even Jeshed."

Her brows drew together. "I do not want to leave Dijana alone in case Kai is still on Teralon. He may try to reach her in her dreams again."

Neither Chaela, nor Amyr moved towards the door for a moment and Taeron wondered if they were communicating with each other. He exchanged a look with Stryfe who shrugged.

Finally Amyr said aloud, "If she thinks she is dreaming, I think it can work."

"Why do I get the feeling that the princeling has come up with some ridiculous scheme that will make matters worse?" asked Stryfe with a roll of his eyes. And then he rubbed his hands gleefully. "And will it give me something even more delightful to add to my report to the emperor?"

"I don't think anything can top the story of Queen Neria spending her wedding night with three different men," commented Taeron wryly.

His brother scratched his head. "True. I think this will be my defining work. But I don't think he will be pleased to discover that Queen Neria left out a few important details about Roehan."

Taeron looked at Amyr. "What did you have in mind?"

"Chaela will put Dijana in a trance," Amyr told Taeron. "And then you will enter it to be with her."

"I will not!" she cried indignantly. "This was your idea. I will not betray the sister of my heart like that!"

"Just discussing it and not warning her is betraying her," pointed out Taeron. He also did not like Amyr's plan. Hadn't he deceived her enough?

"I only agreed to consider it because she needs protection from Kai."

"If we send her to a trance, Kai should not be able to follow," Amyr said. "And if she believes it is a dream, then you can have a chance to talk to her, and perhaps you can make her understand how you feel so that she will not reject you before the council."

"I don't like it," said Chaela.

"It's a very bad idea," warned Stryfe.

Taeron pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his forefinger and closing his eyes, he saw Dijana as he did that afternoon, the fear, the hurt and the anger in her eyes before she would not even look at him.

And then he remembered how they had parted on Norvana, her words of love. Could she stop loving him so easily? He could not believe it when he knew he would always love her.

"I will do it."

"Taeron!" Chaela was furious.

He ignored her outburst. "Go to her and offer your blood. Amyr and I will follow and when she is distracted, Amyr can put her in the trance."

Although she looked as if she wanted to argue further, Amyr must have communicated something to her because she shot them a disgusted look before she marched out.

"I hope you know what you are doing, brother," warned Stryfe although his eyes had a gleam of anticipation. That alone should have made Taeron put a stop to their scheme.

But Amyr put a hand on Taeron's shoulder. "Just do with her what you do best and she will find you hard to resist."

"Use my sword?" he asked in confusion.

Amyr chuckled suggestively. "Indeed."

They waited a few moments in which Stryfe half-heartedly tried to talk him out of the plan although he clearly wanted fodder for the tales he would recount to the emperor while Amyr encouraged him with promises of Dijana's favorable reaction to him in a trance. They continued to speak in hushed whispers as they crept through the dark corridors of the quiet palace, avoiding patrols of the winged warriors. They ran into Darlac and a handful of his men who were doing their own patrol to ensure the safety of their lord prince, and when Amyr told them why they were creeping around while the rest of the inhabitants of the palace slept, Darlac offered to incapacitate the Teralonian guards. Taeron doubted Queen Neria would appreciate it.

As it turned out, they were forced to rely on Darlac and his men because the residence quarters of the royal family as well as the council chambers were on the highest levels of the palace and the guards were alert to protect them from rebels that may be hiding in the palace. The black clad warriors from the second moon went ahead of their group and after several moments, Darlac returned to inform them that the way had been cleared. Although the slumped over bodies of winged warriors littered the corridor, they were merely unconscious and Darlac warned Taeron that they would not be for long.

So they hurried along, stepping over the unmoving men on the floor, but they had to stop when they came to a set of wide double doors that were slightly ajar. Taeron peered inside and saw more of Queen Neria than he wanted as she paced her chambers wearing only a flimsy scrap of a garment, her wings, as usual spread out behind her. Peering past her, Taeron saw her lover, Roehan lounging unclothed amongst tangled bedding on an enormous bed. If they moved past the door, the emerald-eyed warrior who was Dijana's father would see them and Taeron doubted the man would be sympathetic to their plan although Neria would probably actively help them.

"... and if we cannot persuade her to go with Prince Taeron, she will be unhappy."

"You mean that you will be unhappy, Neria, that your daughter will not be the mate of the lord prince commander of Calabria's imperial warriors."

"Shut up!" Neria sounded furious. "I am thinking of our daughter's welfare."

Roehan laughed huskily. "Come over here and shut me up, Neria. We can talk about Dijana tomorrow."

"Not now, Roehan! We must have this discussion about our daughter and I am displeased that you are distracting me."

"I thought you liked it when I distracted you."

Taeron wished Roehan would get up and distract her so that they could move past the door. He did not enjoy hearing their private conversation.

"Besides," he continued, "there is nothing to discuss. Dijana will do what she wishes and we will support her decision." He paused. "At least I will support her decision. I suppose you will make your own demands without giving a gods' damn what Dijana wants, but in the end the elders will decide."

Neria sighed as she paced, but her step faltered and she turned her head towards the door. She was looking directly at Taeron. At first he read surprise in her eyes, and then she glanced at Roehan before heading towards the door.

"We're done for now," whispered Amyr.

But she did not reveal their presence as she continued to talk. "I think Dijana would be more receptive to Lord Prince Taeron if only he could prove his worthiness as a mate." She had reached the door and she raised her gaze to Taeron's through the crack in the door. "I don't think he even knows how to pleasure a woman!"

The female had only one thing on her mind! And why did she think he was incapable? Dijana had not complained on Norvana. Taeron knew enough about women to know that her pleasure had not been feigned.

"I know how to pleasure a woman," purred Roehan from across the room. "Come back to bed so that I can demonstrate again."

Neria ignored him as she glared at Taeron. "I would be happier to know that Dijana has a man worthy of her, who can take care of her needs as a woman."

She wasn't talking to her mate and they both knew it. So did Amyr and Stryfe who had pressed their lips together to keep from laughing. Taeron took in a deep, calming breath to keep from seizing the door and slamming it shut.

"Perhaps, my dear Roehan, you should instruct him."

Taeron wanted to tell her that he did not need instruction, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Amyr and Stryfe leaning on each other in silent laughter. By the gods! This was a humiliating experience. It was bad enough that he had to suffer through this conversation before his mother and her mate, but to have his brothers hear it was deeply shaming.

"Come to bed, Neria and stop worrying about Dijana. You have said yourself that she has already mated with the Calabrian. If he does not please her as a man should please his mate, there is nothing we are going to do about it. I have no intention of instructing Prince Taeron. Are there no women at the Calabrian court that could have taken care of that education? I cannot believe there was no dearth of females drawn to that warrior."

"I spoke to several of them during my stay at court," Neria told him and Taeron started indignantly to hear that she had been discussing his intimate knowledge with females at the imperial palace. Taeron's stomach twisted in knots as he wondered if she had discussed her findings with his mother.

"They told me that he was a capable lover, but their knowledge of him was limited by the restrictions of unbonded mating practices. Aparently Calabrians behave like fumbling fledglings until they bond with a female."

"Some Calabrians," whispered Amyr with a smirk.

Taeron glared and him and whispered, "Most Calabrians."

"Stop talking about the Calabrian! I am starting to wonder if you would rather be in his bed instructing him."

The thought made Taeron's toes curl and Amyr and Stryfe moved away with startled looks on their faces.

"Hardly!" She sniffed. "I have all the warrior I need in my own bed." With one last raise of her brows and a look in her eye that would have frightened a lesser man, Neria snapped the door shut.

Dijana's room was further down the hall and Taeron headed in that direction although Stryfe and Amyr were whispering highlights from Queen Neria's remarks and quietly snickering. If they did not need to be quiet, he would turn around and beat them like the disrespectful fools that their remarks proved them to be. He could not begin to imagine how the emperor was going to react to the retelling.

They quietly entered Dijana's room and Taeron immediately saw that the two women were on the bed together. Dijana's head was bent over Chaela's wrist, her golden hair now longer than he remembered, hanging across her face as she drew in her blood. Despite the medicine he had taken earlier, his body reacted to the memory of her taking his blood, and like the mindless fool that he was, he jerked the dagger from his belt and raised it to his neck. He wanted to feel her lips on him, gently taking nourishment from him as he held her.

"What are you doing?" whispered Amyr furiously. "Wait until ..."

Taeron opened his flesh and when the blood dribbled out, Dijana raised her head and her glazed eyes met his.

Amyr made a sound of annoyance and lunged forward, his hands catching Dijana's before she could react fully to Taeron's presence. Chaela left her place in the bed, and after an irritated look at both of them, she stepped aside so that he could lie on the bed with Dijana.

Like a babe searching for its mother's milk, Dijana stretched against Taeron and he did not suppress the moan of pleasure when she found the cut he had made and drew in his blood. He heard Amyr say something about the trance and then he felt the energy in Amyr's touch before he was drawn away.

He became aware of soft, moist ground beneath him and opening his eyes, he saw that they were on the bank of the pond on Norvana where they had been together so many times. Dijana sighed softly and after licking the cut he had made to seal it, she raised her face to his and he saw that the pleasure he felt was mirrored in her eyes.

Cradling her face with his hands, he lowered his head to touch their foreheads. "I love you, Dijana," he said softly before touching his lips to hers.


	43. Chapter 43 The trance

**Chapter 43**

When he lifted his head from the kiss that had been more gentle than passionate, Dijana sighed and burrowed her face into his neck to breathe in his scent. "Stryfe," she whispered softly. "I had a terrible dream."

He sifted his fingers into her hair and tilted her head up so he could kiss her again. "Do not call me Stryfe," he murmured against her lips. "I am Taeron. Say my name, Dijana."

"No. I do not want that." Dijana turned her head away from him, but he brushed her neck with his lips and she shivered as he slipped his hand inside the part of her silky robe to caress her. This was not how she remembered being with him on Norvana when she had worn a coarse tunic that she had taken from one of the servants at the palace before Avar had dragged her to the transport waiting to take her to meet Lord Taeron. She had hoped that the Calabrian warlord would reject her the moment he saw her, but the mistaken identity seemed to work more to her advantage. Or so she had thought.

This was surely a dream because everything that had happened since the day Stryfe – Taeron – had left her at this pond had been reality, not a nightmare from which she could awaken. And with the realization that this was a dream came the memory of Kai's words, that he would invade her dreams when she was with her mate. But as Stryfe – Taeron! - touched her, he made her forget about the threat of her Varoonyan master. He covered her mouth with his, and as he slid his hand lower inside the fine garment, his touch made her shiver and move restlessly against him. He knew well how to please her and soon enough he had her crying out his name, not the name of his brother.

When she could form a coherent thought again, she wanted to reciprocate, so she kissed him eagerly and fumbled with his clothing until she found what she sought, but she was surprised to find that he was unresponsive.

Raising her head, she looked at his face. "You do not want me?" When had he ever shown a flagging desire in the many times they had mated? She had even wondered if he was always in a state of need, but now his body did not react at all to her touch.

"I cannot," he murmured with his lips close to her ear. "Let me please you, Dijana."

He already had very well, but he did not give her a chance to protest before rolling her onto her back and kissing her lips, then her neck before moving lower. She gasped in shock as he continued, but she did not, could not stop him, and when she shuddered in pleasure again, he slid back over her and held her in his arms. There was only the sound of her ragged breathing for several moments, and Dijana was content to lie in his strong, warm embrace. She would have preferred a different ending to this wonderful dream, but she was not going to complain when her lover was so eager to please her.

"I am sorry, Dijana, that I was not honest with you."

Her brows drew together and she raised her head to look at him. "Why do you apologize to me in my dreams?" She shook her head. "I do not want to dream of this." The Taeron of her dream was ruining her enjoyment.

"We do not choose our dreams," he told her softly.

A cold, harsh voice interrupted her dream.

"So, warrior, you are a philosopher as well as a trained killer."

Startled, Dijana scrambled up from Taeron's embrace and she spun to see Kai standing only steps away holding his sword ready to fight.

The Varoonyan warlord smirked at her. "Thank you, my sweet Dijana, for bringing this dog to me so that I might slay him in this place of dreams."

"No!" she cried out although she knew it was just a dream and that she would awaken in the morning to find herself safe in her bed. She looked frantically for Chaela, but she had not come to protect her.

A hand on her arm drew her attention to Taeron and she saw that he had in his hand the bejeweled long sword that she had last seen dripping blood. "I will deal with this bastard once and for all." He gently pushed Dijana behind him.

Kai's mocking laughter curdled her blood. "No, Calabrian, _I_ will deal with _you_ and once I have, Prince Staefyn will be very pleased."

Taeron had raised his long blade before him, but he did not respond as he gazed without blinking at his opponent. Dijana remembered seeing him use his sword on the battlefield from far away, but that was nothing compared to the terrifying spectacle of him ready to fight Kai.

Kai attacked, but Taeron easily blocked his blow and countered with one of his own that Kai managed to sidestep before swinging again.

Dijana scrambled to the far side of the pond out of the way of the deadly blades that swung and parried, throwing off sparks with the force of their blows. She was dismayed to realize that Taeron appeared to be evenly matched against the Varoonyan warlord and by the concentration on Kai's face, he was not pleased to find the hero of Varoonya more skilled than he had imagined. Less capable warriors would have fallen into the pond already, but both men moved nimbly without even looking at their feet, skipping over stones, leaping from one bank to another as their swords clashed. Raised on a planet where men fought in the air, Dijana could only watch their deadly dance in horrified awe.

She did not know how they could keep up the fight when both men used incredible speed that did not seem to slow. Dijana wanted to wake up, to leave this nightmare, but she could not. Taeron tried to move the fight away from where she cowered against the trunk of a tree while Kai worked to back him into her. Dijana dared not move when their swords did not cease their lethal arcs towards each other.

Suddenly, Taeron stumbled and Kai swiped his sword at him with careless surprise when he left himself open to his attack. Dijana cried out, frightened that Kai would kill him, even in this dream that had become a nightmare from which she could not awaken. But Taeron did not pause as he sprang up and she watched as he twisted in the air high above Kai before coming down behind the Varoonyan to land near her, his sword raised. Kai was exposed, and Taeron was going to kill him. Her heart soared with joy because she knew that she would finally be released from the Varoonyan's control.

But Kai was not done controlling her yet. "Dijana!" growled Kai, his voice rumbling through her to compel her to act with no will of her own.

Unable to fight his hold on her she threw herself against Taeron, and wrapped her arms around his legs. Her action stunned Taeron long enough to keep him from killing Kai, and the Varoonyan took advantage of his surprise to raise his sword and bring it down on his opponent. But Taeron bent back so fast and so far that she was surprised that he did not fall, and the blow that would have sliced him in half, swiped across Taeron's body. Blood sprayed into the air, and when Kai quickly recovered to ready another killing blow, Dijana used his distraction to throw off Kai's control to force Taeron sideways into the frigid water of the pond where the Varoonyan could not reach him.

For several moments she could not breathe and when she was able to break the surface of the pond, she drew a deep breath into her burning lungs and although she was shivering from the cold, she was not soaking wet because she was no longer at the pond on Norvana. She was in her own bed, finally awake from the awful nightmare. Her heart pounding erratically, she was relieved until she heard a startled cry.

"Taeron!"

Dijana was shocked to see Prince Amyr lunging towards her bed, and turning quickly she saw Taeron lying still beside her. Blood was rapidly soaking his tunic from the wound Kai had given him in her dream. He was not even breathing, and Dijana was afraid he was dead until Amyr reached him and seized his hands. Taeron suddenly sat up and took a deep breath as if he had been under water.

Dijana looked from Taeron to Amyr, and for a moment she was confused until she realized what had happened and she was infuriated.

"You put me in a trance!" she accused Amyr and then glared at Taeron, avoiding looking at the crimson soaking his tunic where she had seen Kai split his flesh. "You let him!" Dijana was sure she was going to be sick with the realization that what had happened in her dream was as real as if it had happened in this room.

"I agreed to it!" he snapped irritably with no shame for having tricked her. "I did not expect to be attacked."

"No! You expected to seduce me!" Furious and hurt, she lunged at him to strike him, but he caught her wrists and shoved her back against the bed.

Leaning over her, his eyes were like dark blue fire. "You protected that bastard!"

Her pounding heart seemed to skip a beat. "I … I did not have a choice!" Despite her anger, she wanted to cry. He was pale and trembling, and while he did not show it, he must surely be in pain.

When he released her and swung out of the bed, tears made him blur in her vision as she watched Amyr go to him quickly and tear off his tunic to expose the flesh that had been cut open by Kai's blade. Seeing the wound almost made her physically sick.

"What happened?" Amyr demanded as he used the torn tunic to try to staunch the flow of blood from the wound that began at his shoulder and angled across his body to the opposite hip. If Taeron hadn't been able to move, Kai would have sliced him in half.

The door opened and Chaela hurried in and seeing Dijana first, she exclaimed in horror. "Dijana! Are you all right?" Taeron's blood soaked her robe and smeared her skin where he had touched her. Before she could answer, Chaela noticed her brother trying to heal the wound from which blood surged over his hands. "Taeron! By the gods! What has happened?"

"Warlord Kai attacked me," he told her although he was wincing from the pain as Amyr used his healing powers. A sweat had broken out over his deathly pale flesh. "By the gods! Isn't that supposed to feel good?"

Amyr grimaced at him. "I am not that skilled yet." He looked over his shoulder at Chaela. "Come and help me sister."

"I told you not to do it!" cried Chaela in frustration as she joined her brother.

"But you did not stop him!" Dijana was hurt by Chaela's betrayal.

When Chaela met her gaze, Dijana saw tears in her eyes. "I thought if you had a chance to speak to him ..."

"There was little speaking," Dijana told her tartly with a glare at Taeron. He met her look with a self-satisfied smirk until he winced as Chaela joined her brother in attempting to seal the wound.

Dijana wanted to lash out at him, to tell him that he had his own ineptitude to thank for his pain, but only his godly agility had saved his life when she had helped Kai. She had almost caused his death and if he had died in that trance because of her, she never would have been able to live with it. In the past Kai had used his power over her to humiliate her, but now she knew exactly what he was capable of making her do and she was horrified that he could make her act against the man she loved. She would not be free of him until he was dead, and Taeron would have killed him had she not betrayed him.

The door suddenly burst open and guards poured in with swords raised. When they were satisfied that there was no danger, they parted to allow Queen Neria to enter. She spared Dijana a brief glance that did not betray her thoughts before she looked at Taeron for whom she did not hide her disgust.

"I do not know about your mating habits on Calabria, but swordplay and bloodletting does not usually lead to pleasure here," she said with a sniff. "You are completely inept as a lover!"

"I think he misunderstood my instruction," Dijana heard Amyr mumble under his breath.

"By the gods, Neria!" Roehan pushed past her and he went to Dijana. "You are not hurt, Dijana?" At least he had noticed the blood-stained clothing sticking to her.

"It is my blood," snapped Taeron irritably, and he finally pushed his healers away. "Fetch Lady Trynity's healing ointment and stitch me up. It can't be more painful than what you are trying to do."

"There will be a scar," Amyr warned him. "I can't heal a scar."

Taeron did not look at Dijana, but his words cut straight to her heart. "Then I will always remember what happened this night." Then he headed to the door, but he paused by her mother. "It is gods' damned difficult to pleasure your daughter when her crazed master is trying to butcher me."

She raised a brow. "Did you manage to do it?"

He matched her gaze. "I am an imperial guard. Of course I did." With that, he walked out and any sympathy Dijana might have been feeling for him faded, but he was gone before she could tell him exactly what she thought of him.

"That Calabrian bastard has much to answer for," snapped Roehan. He started to go after him, but her mother caught his arm.

"Let him cool down."

"I think he already did in a rather cold pond," remarked Amyr with a chuckle. He nodded to Stryfe who had watched the entire scene with avid interest. Dijana wanted to scream in frustration because she had no way of knowing what he would say when he reported this shameful incident to the emperor.

Of the Calabrians, only Chaela remained behind and Dijana could see that she regretted her part in what had happened. Dijana could not stay angry at her when she knew that she was only trying to help, and if she could be faulted it would be for agreeing to anything suggested by that brainless oaf, Amyr. She held out her hands to her so that she would know how she felt, and when Chaela hurried to take them, her calming touch made it easier to face her mother and the man who was her father.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Neria. "You knew what he was going to do?"

The queen frowned and after taking a breath, she admitted, "I saw him on the way here. I assumed he would seduce you in the usual manner and I thought you would appreciate his visit."

"You thought wrong!" Dijana wished she could throw something at her mother.

"Neria, you had no right letting him sneak in here! Do you not see that the Calabrian has no honor?" Roehan was angrily facing her.

"My mother has no right?" Dijana was shouting now as she turned to her father. "And who are you to say that Prince Taeron has no honor?"

"I see that my daughter has some fire in her spirit," remarked Neria with a pleased smile.

"If she is anything like you, I will make my retreat now." Roehan headed to the door, but he paused by her mother. "Come along Neria. You have done enough for the night."

Dijana was surprised that he dared to hoist her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" She tried to grab his wings, but he quickly snapped them shut. "The gods know what I am going to do to you for this!"

Dijana stared at the door after they had gone with the guards following and she could hear her mother's imperious voice ordering the warrior to put her down.

Chaela laughed. "They sound like my parents."

"I doubt they are anything like your parents!" Dijana was disgusted by the sight of them. She could not imagine the emperor of Calabria behaving like that with his wife.

"Oh, you don't know my parents. I think they spend equal times arguing as they do in their bedchamber."

Dijana was shocked.

"You need to change and I will call for clean bedding." Chaela started to remove the bedding, but she paused to look at Dijana. "You must tell me what happened. Did he really..?" By her blush, Dijana knew she could not finish her question.

Dijana blew out her breath in exasperation. "I will tell you all about it later."

Dijana did not get much sleep that night, partly because she spent much of it talking to Chaela and partly because she was afraid to encounter Kai again even with Chaela there to protect her. As she told Chaela about the trance, she was forced to relive what had happened and she was horrified again by what she had done for Kai. The warlord had almost killed Taeron because of her. Her subsequent actions in saving him did not absolve her, and now he would always have a scar to remind him. She should not feel so guilty when he had taken her to that trance without her knowledge, but her heart ached as she remembered how his wound had looked.

The following morning a serving woman appeared to tell her that the queen expected her to take the meal with her parents in her chamber. Of course, Dijana refused and she expected Neria to force her to attend by sending warriors to escort or drag her as Balak had done on more than one occasion when she had balked at answering his summons. She had never been a biddable daughter and she was not going to start now just because her parents had intruded in her life. The servant returned with the message that if she would not attend her queen and mother, then she did not need to eat.

Chaela smiled at her when the servant left. "The same thing happened to me when I argued with my parents. Don't worry. Your father will bring you something to eat. Mine always did."

Dijana doubted her, but not long after, Chaela answered a knock at the door and after grinning at Dijana over her shoulder, she stepped aside to allow Roehan to enter her chamber with a tray of food. "I will leave you two alone," she said and quickly moved past him before Dijana could stop her.

"I thought you might be hungry," he offered as he set the tray on the small table in her chamber.

She did not want to talk to him. Dijana knew she was probably acting irrationally, but the circumstances of her birth disgusted her and she was not ready to forgive him or her mother, especially her mother.

"Leave it and go." She went to the window and looked out over the valley that was green only a week ago but was now scorched in many spots from the death pyres. There was still smoke rising from several and wondered if Balak and Avar had been tossed carelessly onto them. They had not deserved any better after all the atrocities they had committed in the months leading to their open rebellion. She wished she could have watched, to completely close that chapter of her life.

He did not speak for several moments, but she knew he was still there, and then he said, "This is a shock to me as well, Dijana."

Dijana did not acknowledge his statement although she knew it was true and she should not blame him for anything. Neria was responsible, and yet she had been a victim as well. Dijana did not know how she was supposed to feel and the one person she could have turned to for comfort had betrayed her with his lies.

When she did not respond, Roehan sighed, and she heard him mumbling a comparison between her and her mother that she did not quite hear before he left. Dijana refused to cry, but tears stung her eyes anyway and she was grateful when Chaela returned to hug her from behind as she stared at the smoldering ashes in the fields. She did not know what she would do without Chaela, and she was saddened to consider how Chaela must have suffered since Kaerwen's birth, knowing now how much Avar despised her for it. Dijana had not even noticed that Chaela had been isolated, that she devoted all her time with the child that she adored but which was scorned for what was considered an unspeakable defect on Teralon. Dijana had grown to love Chaela in so short a time and could not even fault her for wanting to help Taeron.

"Is Lord Taeron well?" she heard herself asking although she had resolved not to speak of him.

Chaela drew her to the table and Dijana noted that Roehan must have taken care to select the choicest food for her, and she grudgingly acknowledged his thoughtfulness. Is this how it was to have a parent that cared for your needs?

As she ate, Chaela told her that Amyr had capably stitched the wound although it had taken most of the night and Taeron was uncooperative. Dijana did not need to tell her that Kai had almost killed Taeron because she had seen how close Kai had come to cleaving him in half. That Taeron was not lying in a bed dying after the wound he received was nothing short of a miracle.

"Amyr and I have done what we can to aid in healing, but I believe Taeron's magic is doing more than we can."

Dijana paused in eating. "He has magic?"

"Jeshed told Amyr that he is a gods' blessed holy paladin," Chaela told her. Then she frowned. "I have not yet met Jeshed. I would like to thank him for saving my life, but he has been flying about as a dragon and Amyr cannot contact him. He is worried that something has happened to alarm him."

"His lady wife should be able to contact him," suggested Dijana. "Jeshed is very close to Lady Quynn." She remembered again the comfort the dragon man had given her on Norvana and wondered if he could do it again.

"Amyr received a message this morning that Quynn's ship left for Calabria already. He was surprised, but he said that there were many wounded to transport to Ulfynaeus. Many warriors were poisoned in the marshlands and Amyr has no remedies without using his magic and Taeron has forbidden him. So they need to return to Calabria where Lady Trynity can treat them. He expects Quynn to return before we leave for Calabria."

"You are not leaving right away?" Dijana did not know how she was going to tolerate seeing Taeron until they left.

And she did not know how she was going to bear his leaving.

"Your mother demands that the imperials help round up all of Balak's remaining supporters. Taeron is under orders from my father to end the war here so that Staefyn will not be able to rely on allies from Teralon or Varoonya. Taeron gave command of the imperial warriors to Amyr while he is unable to lead them."

When they finished their meal, Chaela helped her dress in the same gown she had worn when Balak had dragged her before the council. In truth, she had few garments left from before the Varoonyan invasion when she had been treated with the respect due the princess of Teralon. Sharisse had taken nearly all to throw away after reminding her cruelly that the ugly scars on her back would be revealed anyway. Dijana had never seen the scars but they often irritated her so she knew they must be repulsive. She had been horrified that Stryfe – Taeron – had seen them on Norvana, and she had been unnecessarily cruel to him so that she could avoid the questions he would ask.

After brushing through her hair, Chaela seemed pleased. "Your color has improved." Her brows drew together as she studied Dijana. "I had not realized how much you have changed so much in these last few weeks, Dijana!"

She left her for a moment and returned with a looking glass, and at first Dijana did not look because she had stopped looking at herself after Kai had left her for dead, but now she could scarcely recognized the woman who looked back at her.

"Is this a Guerani trick?" she asked Chaela as she pressed her hands to her cheeks. The female looking at her had arched brows and long lashes that were tipped golden, the same golden of the hair that framed her face in gently curling waves. Had her lips always been full and curved pleasantly? And the nose that she had always thought too big no longer drew her attention. As she stared at herself, she saw what others would see in her, the resemblance between her and the startling handsome warrior her mother had taken as her lover.

"No," said Chaela. "But today the change in your appearance is dramatic. I think it may be due to the magic in the blood you took last night."

Dijana sighed and looked away from the mirror to Chaela who continued. "I think Taeron's blood protected you from Kai."

Since she had taken only Taeron's blood on Norvana, Dijana knew that Chaela was probably right. "You argue eloquently for Taeron."

"He is like a brother to me," Chaela reminded her. "After what my father has done, he is my brother in the eyes of Calabria. When we were younger and I was getting into trouble as a child, Taeron always got me out of it. I think if Taeron had been on Calabria when Avar arrived, he would have saved me from that too."

"I have already heard that he is a god," remarked Dijana dryly. "Thank you for verifying it."

Chaela seemed hurt for a moment and Dijana regretted her mockery, but then Chaela laughed. "Poor Taeron. You must be a very great mystery to him. I don't think he can figure out how to please you."

Taeron knew too well how to please her, but Dijana did not point it out.

They received a message from the queen to meet her in the council chambers, so Dijana took a deep, calming breath and as Chaela walked with her, she rehearsed in her head over and over what she would say to the council. She was not practicing because she needed to reaffirm her decision to reject Taeron. He should not be surprised, not when she had already told him she wished to do it on Norvana. She would not think of why she had told him, definitely not because she had fallen in love with a scribe.

Her mother was waiting for her outside the council chamber with Roehan. When she saw Dijana, her brows raised. "You look well, daughter."

"You don't have the right to call me that."

Queen Neria sighed and looked at her lover. "Roehan, you are right, she is an impossible child."

"I am not a child! You were not there when I was a child!" Dijana stopped herself from stamping her foot and she noticed that Chaela was hiding her smile behind her hand.

The Calabrians arrived with Taeron in the lead and Dijana could not believe that he was on his feet after what had happened. She should have known that he would barge into the council to argue against her request. Amyr and Stryfe flanked him while a group of the black clad warriors brought up the rear.

Queen Neria greeted him. "Is it necessary for you to travel with an army, my lord prince? At least you are not dripping blood."

Taeron bowed to her mother and Dijana noticed him wince and when he straightened, she saw that blood now stained his tunic.

"I spoke too soon." Queen Neria said wryly. She looked at Amyr. "Are you not his healer? Your skills are lacking."

Amyr shrugged. "I told him that the lord prince commander of the imperial warriors of Calabria did not need to bow to you, but he doesn't listen to me."

"You are impertinent."

"Emperor Trey is my father," he pointed out. "I don't need to bow to you either."

"Your father is the epitome of manners."

"I am not."

"Neria," warned Roehan.

She seemed to remember why she was there and stopped arguing with Amyr. Dijana glared at the Calabrian prince and he winked at her. There was nothing about that man that she liked.

"Very well, let us enter this nest of vipers. Today I begin my rule." Raising her head, she arrogantly strode forward.

Roehan covered his face with his hand. "Gods help the council."


	44. Chapter 44 Dijana and the council

**Chapter 44**

The guards opened the door and after Queen Neria passed between them to enter the council chamber, her wings spread wide behind her while Roehan kept his concealed as was proper for a male in the presence of the elders. Dijana ignored Taeron as she followed her father with Chaela at her side and the Calabrians entered after her with the dark-clad warriors waiting in the corridor.

There were only four members of the council, Deryn, Olwyn, Jaleila and Ayrael. Olwyn stepped forward, and where Balak had always bowed respectfully, Dijana's mother did not even nod to the older woman.

"Welcome back, Neria. You have been absent from this council for far too long."

"Too long?" inquired Neria with a raise of her delicately arched brows. "A month or two is too long. I have been gone for over twenty years. Did you never initiate a formal inquiry into my absence, dear aunt?"

Dijana was surprised to learn now that Olwyn was her grandmother's sister. She was vexed to realized that she knew virtually nothing about her own family, that Balak had raised her to be ignorant. He never intended for her to rule Teralon, so he did not bother with her education. The lowest servant in the palace probably knew more about royal politics than she did.

Neria did not give Olwyen a chance to respond. "I am surprised that you have the audacity to return to your position in the council after what you have allowed." Her eyes moved over each of the remaining elders. "That you are still alive makes me suspect your allegiance since I know that Avar hunted down and murdered Kaseja and Garest. I presume they were the only ones among you with the integrity to stand up to that foul usurper."

The older woman did not appear bothered by her queen's anger. "We are loyal to you, Neria. As for your imprisonment, we could only act on what we were told."

"And since it was convenient for you that I was absent, you never bothered to determine the reason," pointed out Neria. "I have had twenty years to consider why I was incarcerated far from my child, twenty years to learn the truth."

Olwyn's lip curled. "And what is it that you think you have learned?"

"That you ever envied my mother her position and when she died so young, you took over my regency so that you could rule in my name. But when I came of age, you had to give it up, so you forced your way onto the council with bribery and threats."

"Your time in the northern palace has made you bitter," declared Olwyen smoothly. "I wonder if it has made you unbalanced." She glanced at the other council members who were looking at Roehan warily. Dijana saw that the warrior's hands were behind his back where they should be clasped in a sign of non-aggression, but she could see from her position that he had secreted quills, deadly sharp thin daggers among the feathers of his wings and they were within reach.

Neria sneered at her. "Your accomplices have more sense than to try to wrest control from me now, Olwyn." The other woman now noticed Roehan's stance and she pressed her lips together. Neria continued. "When the council decided I was old enough to take a mate, you convinced them to force me to choose between two males that you could keep in line."

"I chose two males for your consideration who could match your spirit."

"They would have crushed my spirit!" Neria's face was pink with fury. "They were repulsive, brutish men and you knew it!"

"I also knew that you were behaving scandalously with that male." She raised her thin, wrinkled hand to point at Roehan. "I had to save you from shaming yourself. For all I knew you were already carrying his bastard."

Neria was trembling with rage, but Roehan stepped forward to slide his hands through the feathers of her wings to place them on her shoulders. "I did not shame myself until you forced me to do it. You should have let me choose the male I wanted!"

"You would have chosen that boy!" Olwyn laughed scornfully. "He was barely out of military training, qualified only to open and close doors for you! You needed a man's guidance! Does it matter? You have him now."

"You took my daughter from me!"

"Balak took your daughter from you."

"With your approval!" Dijana was surprised to hear the emotion in her mother's voice, to see the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Worse, you let me believe that Nykos was her father!"

"Balak would have killed her if he knew she was the bastard of a palace guard." Olwyn sneered at Neria. "You were not ready to rule; Balak was strong enough to rule in your stead."

"You ruled through Balak!"

The male, Deryn, stepped forward. "This argument is pointless. You have presented yourself and we welcome you back, Neria."

"Do you think I will rule with you as my council?" Neria wiped her tears by rubbing her face with her hands. "I do not trust a single one of you traitors. By the end the day, I want you gone from my palace. I will replace you all! You have no right for mercy after what you have allowed to be done to me and to my daughter."

"Your bastard," Olwyn corrected her with scorn. "I should have told Balak the truth and after he rid us of her, I could have accepted Sharisse as your heir."

Neria surged forward and she seized the graying hair of the older woman, pulling her head back so that they were nose to nose. "May the gods have mercy for you, because I do not."

Dijana gasped as her mother jerked the older woman's head and the loud snap of her neck made Dijana's stomach lurch. She let the lifeless body fall to the floor at her feet. The three remaining elders stepped back, their mouths ajar and Dijana knew they felt the same horror that she did.

Her mother glanced at Roehan. "Ask the guard to remove this refuse and place it on the pyres with the rest of the traitors." She noticed Dijana gaping at the body as Roehan did as she ordered. For so many years Olwyn had made decisions that Dijana had felt were unfair, but she would never wish this on anyone and she was shocked to realize that her mother was capable of such cold-blooded violence.

"Do not grieve her," Neria said, her voice hard. "I have come to learn that Olwyn poisoned my mother, and when she failed to seduce my father so that she could control me through him, she drugged him and pushed him off the roof of the palace. She blamed it on his drunken grief, but few believed her. She tried to convince the council to renounce my claim to the throne in her favor, but they would only allow her to act as my regent. And when I no longer needed a regent, she forced her way onto the council and sought to control me through them. She hand-picked the mates offered to me, the two most brutal warriors, both mindless fools, she believed, that she could control and who would crush me." Neria reached out a hand to Roehan who took it and squeezed it. "She would have succeeded if it were not for Roehan."

She looked back at Dijana. " I chose the warrior least likely to kill me, and who do you think gave Balak the idea to kill my lawful husband, Nykos? Olwyn hoped he would kill me as well, but that bastard Balak enjoyed beating and raping me with impunity after I had rejected him. He had his own plan, and when I bore Sharisse, he had gotten what he wanted, so he sent me under guard to the northern palace. I don't know when he decided that ruling in my place as I rotted in his prison was not enough for him, but the idea of his rebellion had come to him before he sent Avar to Calabria to bring back the first princess. He had probably hoped to gain the backing of the emperor, but I have since learned that Trey would not have backed him regardless of who married him."

Dijana was shamed that the Calabrians were witness to the corruption of her planet and she could not respond. All these years she thought her mother stayed away because she despised her. Dijana had believed everything Balak told her because she had no way of knowing the truth.

Sighing, Neria turned back to the three remaining elders. "I don't know how actively you supported her, but I do not trust you. By the rising of the first sun tomorrow, I want you gone from the palace and if you are not, you will wish for Olwyn's fate. You will never leave your estates and if you do, my warriors will hunt you down to bring you back to face whatever punishment Roehan deems sufficient for all that you have done to keep him from his daughter."

They looked warily at Roehan who did not betray his feelings, but Dijana sensed that the large, strong warrior would like nothing better than to mete out justice to the council elders.

"The Calabrians deserve our thanks for all that they have done for our planet," Neria told them tersely, making them start as they seemed to notice them for the first time.

Of the three remaining elders, Jaleila stepped forward. "We are grateful, lord prince Taeron, for all that you have done for us, in driving back the Varoonyan invaders and helping to restore our queen to us."

Taeron nodded to them but did not speak. Dijana thought he looked as menacing as her father did at the moment.

Neria frowned at the elders. "You should have given him this thanks five years ago."

"Olwyn..." started Ayrael, but Neria interrupted.

"You can blame Olwyn all you want because she is dead, but I don't want to hear her name again! Lord Taeron should have returned to Teralon after subduing Varoonya to teach you a lesson in gratitude. At least I was able, with my dear Roehan's help, to make a treaty with the emperor which Balak had no choice but to honor."

Now she turned to Dijana. "My daughter has some words on the terms of the treaty which concern her."

Her heart racing, she did not look at Taeron as she stepped forward to address the three elders who could not hide their surprise at her appearance. They looked from her to Roehan, then back to Dijana who was irritated that they were comparing her with her father. They probably all felt the same contempt for her that Olwyn did but they would not dare call her Roehan's bastard, not when he could probably kill them before the words died on their lips.

"I respectfully request …."

"You are my daughter, my heir, so you do not have to respectfully request anything," snapped Neria.

Dijana swallowed nervously, then she spoke again. "I demand that the provision of the treaty that requires me to wed Lord Taeron be stricken." She paused and then she said. "I will not marry him." She dared not look at Taeron.

The elders drew away to discuss in low murmurs and then returned after only a few moments. "Princess Dijana, we were informed that you mated with the Calabrian scribe," said Ayrael. "Your sister, Sharisse reported what you had done during your stay on Norvana, and our decision at that time was that Lord Taeron, now lord prince Taeron, could decide your fate."

The elder Deryn waved Taeron to approach which he did with Amyr and Stryfe behind him. "Do you reject our princess?"

Dijana did not give him a chance to speak because she knew what his answer would be. "He is a liar and an oath-breaker!"

The elders gasped and Neria glared at her, but Dijana would be heard. "He lied about his identity and he proceeded to seduce me."

"Is this true?" asked Deryn with outrage. Feigned or not, Dijana hoped he could be an ally.

Dijana spoke again before Taeron could respond. "He could have told me many times his true identity, but he was content to play me for a fool!"

"I played you for a fool?" Dijana had never heard Taeron speak in so angry a tone and she was taken aback. "You accuse me of being a liar and an oath-breaker?"

He spun and indicated that his brother should step forward. Dijana saw that he was carrying a scroll and she felt her heart skip a beat. There were ribbons wrapped around the scroll from which hung the golden seal of the emperor.

"The imperial scribe will read the account of her arrival on my ship."

Stryfe showed them the scroll. "This is the account as accepted by the emperor." He unwound the ribbons and Dijana felt the blood leaving her face as he unrolled the parchment to read. "There is much about the account that you do not need to hear, about how my brother did not want to leave his post on Varoonya, how the emperor forced him to come to Calabria and then sent him to Teralon under guard..."

"I was under guard?" queried Taeron with surprise.

Stryfe chuckled. "We did not need two pilots, did we?"

Taeron did not respond, but Dijana could see that he was irritated, certainly no more irritated than she to hear the lengths the emperor had to go in order to get him to come to Teralon.

Stryfe continued, "And I doubt you want to hear how I thought he was going to embarrass himself when the ship docked..."

"That was completely unnecessary," muttered Taeron.

"... how he was sweating so badly I though he was going to have to change his clothing..."

"I don't think I have ever seen Taeron in such a condition," commented Amyr.

"Indeed," said Stryfe, now looking at the other man. "I had made a notation that Keldar thought that my brother looked like an unblooded recruit facing a canyon beast, but the emperor told me to strike it from the official record."

Dijana gasped in indignation. Canyon beast? She did not know what a canyon beast was, but it did not sound pleasant.

"And yet you feel it necessary to repeat it now?" asked Taeron indignantly.

"I was not reading the official account; I was responding to Prince Amyr," Stryfe said with a chuckle despite his brother's anger.

"Get to the point!" his brother snapped. Dijana wanted to kick the man she had once thought was Lord Taeron. How could she have ever thought this fool was a feared warrior?

Amyr laughed. "I haven't heard this story. You will have to read it to me later."

"I will be happy to give you the unofficial account as well. Your father was most amused although he thought some details were unnecessary, the parts about him pacing like a caged hill cat, how he was trembling ..."

The elder Deryn cleared his throat.

Stryfe's smile disappeared and he looked at the parchment that he had unrolled to a specific point when he was prattling like a gossiping old woman.

" _Although Lord Taeron intended to land on the planet to celebrate his marriage to Princess Dijana in a manner befitting her station"_ he read, _"he was met by a transport from Teralon shortly before reaching the planet. He was informed by Prince Avar that there would be no need for him to land, that he had brought the princess to him. Upon docking, a female entered the ship from the walkway who we assumed was a guard for Princess Dijana due to her plain, mannish dress and the weaponry she wore."_

Dijana caught the disgusted look her mother gave her. Neria would not understand how she felt. She had been terrified of Lord Taeron, of what he would do to her because Avar had made it clear that he hoped the Calabrian would kill her. She wanted to be ready to fight, and despite the training she had received, Dijana had since realized that Balak had not allowed her to learn more than rudimentary moves to protect herself. She certainly would be unable to kill as she had seen her mother do.

 _"When another woman came aboard who was exceedingly beautiful and dressed in fine raiment,"_ continued the scribe, _"we drew the obvious conclusion that she was the princess, and I addressed her as such. She did not correct us and the other female corroborated her claim by referring to her as Princess Dijana."_

Dijana heard her mother make a sound that conveyed her anger so effectively that the elders shifted nervously. Hearing his account and knowing what Dijana did now, she marveled at her own gullibility. Sharisse had never wanted to help her; she had manipulated her and Dijana sensed that her mother was disappointed in her foolishness. Dijana had to trust someone! But even the meager offering of friendship Sharisse gave to Dijana in agreeing to help her survive the vengeance of Lord Taeron had been a lie. A woman like Neria should have been proud of Sharisse.

Stryfe glanced briefly at Neria as if he expected her to commit another act of violence, and seeing that Roehan had taken her elbow and drawn her closer to him, he continued. _"During the conversation after their arrival, Princess Dijana never once gave her true identity, instead deferring to her sister, Sharisse. When her sister referred to her as Sharisse, the princess did not correct her but continued with the deception."_ He rolled up the parchment and wrapped the ribbons around it and then he looked at the elders. "Lord Taeron did not learn the truth until he was presented by Queen Neria with the gift of Sharisse's head."

Gasping, Dijana thought she was going to be sick and she looked at her mother who raised her chin as if daring anyone to take her to task for the reprehensible thing she had done with her own daughter's head.

Taeron faced Dijana. "Remind me who is the liar."

She clenched her fists at her side wishing she could strike him.

"Is what he said true?" demanded Neria of Dijana.

"Do you doubt the word of my father's scribe?" Amyr was outraged and Dijana saw that Chaela was shocked that anyone would call into question the official account of the scribe. She guessed that Stryfe had given an oath and to a Calabrian, the breaking of an oath was the worst crime imaginable. Taeron had broken his oath to be with her when he did not know who she was, and her heart ached to imagine what he had suffered on his return to Calabria until the truth of her own deception came to light.

And yet here he stood, not just a warlord, but the lord prince of the emperor's entire army!

Dijana pressed her lips together stubbornly for a moment and then she said, "I felt that I had to lie. Avar told me that Lord Taeron would kill me because of what happened to me."

"Does Lord Taeron know what happened to you?" asked the elder female, Jaleila. She turned her attention to Taeron.

"That she is a thrall of warlord Kai? Yes, she told me."

Jaleila looked back at Dijana. "And he did not kill you. We can see that with our own eyes."

Dijana remembered the day when he learned about Kai and her stomach churned unpleasantly. Now that she knew who he was, she understood why he had attacked her, and she felt vindicated in her fears. But why did he have to be so gentle with her after hearing her story? Why did he offer his blood, knowing what she was, knowing who he was? He was the hero of Varoonya who had slain so many mindless thralls, and he knew what they were capable of. Yet he had held out his hand and offered her his blood.

"Why did you not tell him then?" demanded Ayrael.

"He was masquerading as the scribe!" She cried out in frustration. And she had fallen in love with him and knew he would have to give her up to his brother.

Her mother laughed. "My dear daughter, have you used your eyes to look at him? No scribe could look like that!"

"I do try to keep in shape," grumbled Stryfe.

"You will have to try a lot harder," Amyr told him with an elbow jab to his ribs.

Dijana grit her teeth. Of course she had noted his finely formed body, but she was not going to say that to her mother! The woman had nothing but mating on her mind!

"If he had chosen your sister over you, we would consider your rejection, but you have said yourself that he believed you were Sharisse and you believed he was the scribe. Regardless of how this tangle came to be, it has unraveled to the desired outcome."

The elder paused to take a breath and she knew he was going to deny her, so she blurted out, "Prince Taeron cannot perform his duties as a male to mate me properly!"

There was a collective gasp and she looked triumphantly at Taeron who she assumed would be hanging his head in shame. But aside from a faint reddening of his cheeks, he did not seem concerned about her claim. Did he not realize that the siring of a child was the one thing a male was good for on Teralon? If he could not do that, then he was not a worthy mate.

"Is this true?" asked Neria with surprise. "By the gods, a male armed with your sword should be able to wield it!"

Why was her mother talking about his sword? When she realized what she was talking about, she gasped in shock and swung to look at her. When had her mother …?

"Neria!" barked Roehan furiously.

Taeron cleared his throat although he shot her mother a glare before speaking. "I bonded to Princess Dijana on Norvana. Ask her if I mated properly with her then?"

Dijana refused to answer. This discussion was now humiliating. By the gods, why did she bring it up?

Stryfe unrolled his scroll and she steeled herself for what she was about to hear. _"From sunup to sundown and the hours in between for several days."_

She gasped in outrage.

Her mother laughed.

"That was on Norvana. He could not do so last night!"

The elders exchanged puzzled looks and then Deryn spoke. "You were engaging in carnal relations last night with this male that you reject today?"

Her entire body heated in embarrassment and she wished she could scratch the self-satisfied smile from Taeron's handsome face. "He tricked me!"

"And how did you ascertain that he could not perform?" asked her mother curiously.

Dijana noticed that Chaela's head was turned away but that she was trying not to smile, and Stryfe and Amyr were looking at each other in such a manner that she was afraid that they would burst into laughter before Amyr looked her way.

"Do tell, princess. Were you handling his sword?"

Furious that he had put her in the compromising trance to begin with, she launched herself at him with her nails curled into talons, and while he managed to keep her from scratching out his eyes, she was gratified to swipe them across his cheek as they fell to the floor. She had wanted to do this for a long time and she would not be denied!


	45. Chapter 45 The council decides

**Chapter 45**

On Norvana Taeron would have stopped her, and if he had not taken his medicine, he probably would have ripped off Amyr's limbs for daring to touch his mate, but now he stood over them watching serenely as she scratched at Amyr, slapped, kicked and jabbed him but Amyr merely burst into laughter at her efforts and Taeron thought he might have to remind Amyr to respect his mate. Then again, the woman rolling about with him, trying ineffectually to beat him had a lot to learn, first about how to administer a proper beating and second how to behave as a proper princess.

Suddenly Roehan's wings flew out behind him and he quickly darted to her, and seizing her around the waist, he drew away so quickly that Taeron was impressed although Dijana was even more furious. The beautiful female was glorious in her fury and Taeron wished she were not at odds with him because he would like nothing better than to take her someplace private to tame her.

"Your behavior is undignified," he heard her father snarl in her ear. "You don't give a gods damned about me, but I am ashamed that you are my daughter at this moment."

Taeron thought she was going to scream at him, but instead she burst into tears, and when she reached out for Chaela, Roehan turned her away and brought his wings around to hide her as he turned her in his arms and held her close to his chest. Although Roehan had been deprived of the chance to be her father, Taeron suspected that he would do his best to make up for his absence in her life. He hoped the warrior would not interfere with their relationship, but when Roehan raised his head to glower at him, Taeron knew he was hoping in vain. They had suddenly become adversaries.

"What is your decision?" demanded Neria of the elders with only a glance at Dijana and her father, and in that glance Taeron had seen the brief look of regret in her eyes. If Dijana would let her, Neria would prove her love, but Taeron felt Dijana's pain and knew it would be a long time if ever that she forgave her parents for something that was beyond their control.

Despite the tender glance she had given her daughter, the tone she had used on the elders was as harsh as any battlefield commander. She expected to be obeyed or the consequences would be unpleasant.

"If Princess Dijana is sincere in her desire to reject Prince Taeron..." Jaleila began and Taeron held his breath, disbelieving that they would side with Dijana. He had not agreed to Stryfe and Amyr's plan to completely humiliate her just so that these sanctimonious elders whose allegiance was suspect could leave her without a mate to protect her.

Fortunately, Neria was his strongest ally as well as the bane of his existence. "Your duty is to do what is best for Teralon, not what is best for an overwrought female who is not thinking straight," Neria reminded them with a hard edge to her voice.

Taeron doubted any of them would ever forget what she had done in this chamber. Yes, Dijana was overwrought. He regretted allowing her to attack Amyr, especially since it had undoubtedly earned him Roehan's enmity, but he doubted subduing her would be easy and he had already broken some of the stitches Amyr had given him. And he thought she might benefit from giving Amyr his badly deserved beating for the unkind things he had said to her on Norvana. He would have a difficult time claiming the woman weeping beneath the gold tipped wings of her father. She bore little resemblance to the female he had fallen in love with, but his heart ached with every whimper he heard muffled within the golden warrior's wings.

"Speak up!" demanded Neria impatiently.

The elders exchanged worried looks and then Ayrael pronounced the words he wanted to hear. "It is in Teralon's best interest that she acknowledge Prince Taeron as her husband."

"Never!"came the muffled sob from beneath the feathers hiding her from their view. Taeron wasn't surprised by her reaction.

The elders looked at Neria.

Neria returned their gaze without blinking. Taeron knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of that look.

"We acknowledge her marriage to Prince Taeron." Deryn spoke quickly to appease the queen.

"No!" Roehan raised his head now and faced not only the council, but his mate with defiance. "My daughter deserves the same right as every female on Teralon, the right that my queen was denied. Lord Prince Taeron may present himself for consideration to court her like all males of Teralon. She must be given the right to choose her own mate."

Neria stared at him without speaking and Taeron wondered if she was going to order his death, but her eyes shifted to Taeron, then back to where Dijana was still hidden in her father's wings.

Before she could speak whatever she was thinking, Jaleila blurted, "We will accept her sire's condition." When Neria spun back to glare at the elder, Jaleila raised her chin but she was visibly trembling with fear. "He has the right as her father."

Taeron did not know what this meant for him, but he doubted a courtship could be difficult. Dijana was his mate and they both knew it. If it took a courtship to bring her back to his arms, he would do whatever they expected. Now he willed Neria to look at him, and when she did, he nodded in agreement.

So she huffed in exasperation, glared briefly at Roehan as if to tell him there would be consequences for his interference, then she nodded regally. "Very well. Then after my marriage to Roehan on the morrow, we shall announce to all that we will begin the courtship celebration," she announced. "I expect you to attend the banquet this evening when I will announce your retirement from your duties."

The three elders hung their heads. Banishment to their estates was not such a bad sentence. Trey had exiled his opponents to the unsettled moons where they had made a new life, but the moon circling Teralon was an uninhabitable ball of ice, so that was not an option. If they were guilty of all that Neria suspected, Taeron thought they deserved a public execution, but she seemed to know what was best. Trey had warned him that he would have to learn diplomacy, that the migth of his sword would not always be the best course of action for Calabria no matter his personal feelings. If he had crushed Meridon, much of the good that had come to pass on Ulfynaeus would have been lost, and when Trey had forgiven Lord Rendael of house Caron, he had swelled his army considerably. Rendael was given his life and Trey became the most powerful man in the binary system.

"I won't do it!" sobbed Dijana. "I won't consider that oath-breaking bastard as a mate!"

Her words stung, but then Taeron did not think winning her back would be easy. In retrospect, he probably should have tried some type of diplomacy before carrying her off to a trance where he ended up using his sword anyway.

Stryfe had helped Amyr up and the latter was wiping the blood from his cheek as he leaned in to Taeron. "My father is going to love this story."

"Especially the part about her tackling you to the floor, princeling," said Stryfe with a laugh. "I had better save the story until after you have been named Taeron's imperial guard or he might not consider you worthy."

Taeron looked at Amyr. "Perhaps I will make it your duty to teach my mate to defend herself. I imagine she will enjoy nothing better than to spend day after day pommeling you."

Without waiting for his response, he went to the elders and nodded respectfully although it was galling to do so knowing what they had allowed to happen to Dijana. "I thank you for your decision."

"We thank you for your patience, lord prince Taeron." They moved away although they cast apprehensive glances at Neria, as if they expected her to either swoop in on them or use the chakrams hanging from the ornate golden sash crossing her body. Further inspection of the woman revealed that the bangles on her arms and wrists were smaller version of the weapons, that the hoops in her ears appeared to be sharpened as well as the golden circlet in her hair. The woman was armed to the teeth!

Having no choice, Taeron dragged his feet to Dijana's mother. He did not need to worry about her weapons unless he could not pleasure her daughter and he doubted Dijana would ever admit that his considerable experience in that regard had made him eminently qualified.

"I regret the lengths I had to go to forestall her objections," he told her honestly. Taeron doubted there would have been any other way when he felt sure the council had been intimidated as much by Roehan as by Neria.

"You pleasantly surprised me, my lord prince. You set a trap and she stepped into it unaware."

His conscience was bothered by her words of praise and by the fierce look he received from Dijana's father, he found Neria's praise reprehensible. "I regret that it was necessary," he said more to Roehan than to Neria. Dijana did not emerge from the feathers hiding her to give her own opinion.

Neria crossed her arms over her chest. "The entire affair was, is and no doubt will continue to be, disgraceful." Her eyes drifted downward. "Please tell me that my daughter was mistaken in her innocence."

"Neria, for the love of the gods," hissed Roehan in disgust.

Unlike Apolo, at least Roehan tried to curb his wife. "The bonding makes breeding of primary importance to males," he explained to her although his insides were churning with embarrassment. "My mother must have told you what it means."

"So she did, but I have seen no evidence of it in you. When I discovered who you were and that you had bonded with my daughter, I expected you to behave as some slathering rapacious beast, but aside from that day before the emperor when you whimpered and sobbed like..."

Gods! "My father's wife, the healer, has given me a medicine to aid me in suppressing those urges," he interrupted her.

She sniffed. "You have no reason to take it now."

Taeron glanced past her to Dijana who was still weeping in the protective circle of her father's wings. Her father's glare warned him that he had better have an infinite supply. "I will continue until she asks me to stop."

Neria's disgust was evident. "You will wait until the suns collide for that to happen. My daughter needs guidance."

He raised a brow. "Is that not what your mother's sister said of you?"

She gasped and for a moment he was afraid she would launch one of her chakrams, but then she blew out her breath and then laughed. "By the gods, my lord prince, but you are right. I am beginning to believe the effusive praise that your mother subjected me to on your behalf." She sighed and glanced at Dijana and Roehan. "I have preparations to make. Tonight we celebrate and on the morrow I take a husband and you will begin your courtship."

Taeron heard a muffled sound from within the feathers which he assumed was Dijana's emphatic rejection. He would never believe that the beautiful woman hidden beneath her father's wings had stopped loving him, not if she felt even a fraction of what he felt for her. Even with the medicine, she was at the very core of his existence, the part he had long been missing.

He was about to bow to Neria again, but Amyr's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I will send my men to you for orders. In the meantime, I will need time to rest to recover."

"I shall visit with you later to discuss plans for our departure for Calabria."

 _Our_ departure? Taeron blinked and he was speechless. He was hoping to put this female behind him with hyperspace speed once he had convinced Dijana that they needed each other.

Neria's smile told him that she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Emperor Trey invited me to return when I was able to take back my rightful place so that we can discuss our future alliance." She raised a brow. "I would not dream of leaving that barbaric planet before my daughter is settled comfortably in her new home."

He was going to be sick.

"I think my prince is unwell," said Amyr coming forward to take Taeron's arm. "He needs rest."

Neria's brow arched. "See that he gets it without involving my daughter with your Guerani trickery."

Amyr chuckled. "I don't think he would be getting much rest that way."

The enraged growl that came from beneath the feathers made Taeron smile and he allowed Amyr to lead him away as if he were an invalid. He thought that might be the only way to escape Neria.

Once in the corridor with the chamber door closed, Amyr remarked, "I thank the gods every day for my wonderful mother by marriage."

"Shut up!" snapped Taeron. His future with Dijana would be forever marred by that overbearing female.

Darlac and his men were alert when he exited the chamber, and Stryfe explained to them what had transpired as they walked back to the chamber that had been provided for him. At least Amyr was mollified by the magnificence of the accommodations, telling him that he had stayed in the rooms once when he had visited Chaela shortly before her marriage to Avar. He also remarked that the females had been very accommodating to which Stryfe agreed and Darlac snorted derisively.

"If only I had known what kind of a bastard Avar was," Amyr said angrily as he and Stryfe cut away Taeron's tunic and undershirt that was sticking to the reopened portion of his wound, "I would have ..."

"What?" Taeron looked at Amyr. "Raised a sword to him? Your father would not been pleased to have his son shamed in combat. And you never would have been able to guess his intentions towards Chaela and Shamara. You Guerani are not predisposed to see the evil in men's hearts, or women's for that matter. That is how my mother was able to manipulate Lord Apolo so many years ago to engineer the capture of your mother. Your duty for the gods is to heal and protect."

"Then I had better do what the gods intend for me." Amyr sighed as he surveyed the damage to the wound. "Taeron, this wound is not a pinprick. Stop acting as if it were not there."

He turned away to thread a needle and Taeron had to look away as he stitched the flesh even though Amyr had used his magic to make him impervious to the pain of his ministrations. Afterwards he gave Taeron a healing tea that also alleviated the pain and allowed him to rest.

When the evening meal approached, Amyr ordered him to stay in bed and that he would give his apologies to Queen Neria. With a grin, he told him that he would entertain Princess Dijana. Then he ordered Darlac to prevent Taeron from leaving the bed, so he had nothing better to do but to go back to sleep listening to the men from the second moon talk about past battles on Varoonya.

He fell into a deep sleep that he suspected was aided by a trance that sent him to a serene memory of childhood when he sat in his mother's lap as she made chains with flowers to hang about his neck. Her loving embrace comforted him and he did not awaken until the following day.

As Amyr removed his bandage, he told him that Dijana had not attended the queen's banquet either and it had been a glum affair in which the elders were discharged from their service, and despite her words thanking them for their years of devotion, no one doubted they were disgraced. Her announcement that she would marry Roehan between first and second sunset was met with polite acceptance. Taeron wondered how many of her people knew that Dijana was not Nyko's daughter and if Balak was just too stupid to see the resemblance between her and the warrior. Then again, Roehan had spent the last twenty years in the northern palace sharing Neria's imprisonment albeit as her guard. Perhaps Balak really did not know. He had seemed shocked to learn the truth, and thinking of the dagger that he had planted between the usurper's eyes now gave Taeron a euphoric pleasure that made Amyr chuckle as he finished applying a fresh bandage.

Taeron caught Stryfe's gaze and saw that he was troubled. "What ails you?" Had his brother run out of ink? Did someone disturb his scrolls? Or had some female rejected him which was unthinkable when his brother had a glib tongue that could persuade even the meanest female to do whatever he wanted.

"Jeshed," he said.

Taeron frowned as he realized that he had not seen Jeshed in human form in days. "He has not come down from the skies? Perhaps he is exploring the lands." Taeron hoped that he had not lost his ability to shift back to human. He liked his new brother, regardless of how he came to be. He had much to teach him before Larya sank her hooks into him.

"He is flying erratically," Stryfe told him. "Amyr cannot reach him."

"His thoughts are jumbled," agreed Amyr. "I don't know why, but he seems to be frightened and confused. He doesn't know why either and he doesn't know what to do about it."

"He may come to me." Although he could not be certain that the shapeshifter would respond to his human brother, Taeron tried to rise, but Amyr pushed him back down on the bed. He glared at his Guerani guard. "Let me do this one thing. I am starting to feel anxious for Jeshed and I won't be able to rest until I know he is unharmed."

Disgusted, Amyr quickly checked his bandage before finding a fresh undershirt while scolding him not to distrub his wound with any bowing and scraping no matter who they ran across in the corridors. He sent Darlac ahead to ask permission to climb to the roof because they had learned that the roof of the palace was reserved for ceremonies. The servants were preparing it now for Queen Neria's marriage to Roehan. Darlac returned to relay a stern warning from the queen not to disturb the floral arrangements.

Stryfe laughed outright. "She sounds like a bride on earth."

"A bride who can snap your neck and cut off your limbs if you disturb her floral arrangements," commented Amyr grimly.

They came to the roof of the palace and found an army of females rushing about to decorate with flowers and ribbons. Taeron thought their efforts silly. He preferred the simple exchange of vows that served as a Calabrian wedding, followed by the bonding ceremony and then the banquet. The women were chattering about music and entertainment, and he wanted to be as far away from them as possible, but he forced himself forward with Amyr's unneeded help and he went to the edge of the roof.

As he looked out over the lands, he was disgusted by the acrid stench of burning flesh and the dark blemishes that marred what had been a beautiful green valley when he had brought his army out of the treacherous marshes. He had yet to thank Neria for forcing the imperials to fight both winged warriors and the poisonous, man-eating beasts that inhabited the swamps. Granted, the creatures did give his men some entertainment when not fighting, and the beetles and slugs they found were delicious, even more so when dried in their pouches. He would have to remember to have some when he returned to his chamber because he had found little to entice him to eat from the queen's table.

Turning his attention to the sky, he searched for the dragon and he was about to give up when he saw the gigantic creature flying aimlessly over the far hills. Could he call him? If Amyr could not, then how would he be able to reach him? But watching the dragon now, Taeron grew even more anxious. Jeshed seemed to behave like a mindless beast.

"Jeshed!" He called out aloud, hoping that his voice might carry on the winds to him. Jeshed did not react, so he called for him again.

Although the dragon was so far away he could hardly see him, Taeron was relieved to see it make a wide turn and head in their direction. As he drew closer, the females began to scream in terror and fall over each other fleeing down the steps to the palace. Taeron almost screamed in terror the moment he realized what the mighty winds from Jeshed's wings was going to do to the floral arrangements.

"Save the flowers!" shouted Amyr as if giving orders in battle, and Darlac and his men sprang into action along with Stryfe and Amyr. Taeron considered all the undignified things that Shamara had made him do as her imperial guard made watching Amyr dive after bouquets of flowers immensely pleasing.

The dragon paused above him, his wings flapping, causing the men to curse as the flowers were damaged beyond saving. A large wooden arch to which the women had been affixing flowers toppled over and Amyr dropped the armful of flowers he had rescued to dive towards it. But it flew over the edge and Taeron glanced over the edge of the palace to watch as it exploded when it made contact with the ground.

"By the gods, we are all dead now," remarked Amyr.

The winds died down and the human form of Jeshed dropped from the sky and landed neatly before Taeron who handed him a tunic he had brought with him in case Jeshed responded. Jeshed slipped it on to cover his naked body. The last thing Taeron wanted was Queen Neria ogling his brother.

Jeshed ran a hand through his white hair. "Quynn is gone," he announced.

"We know that," said Taeron, and then he realized that Jeshed had never been separated from her, so he was as anxious as a child who had lost sight of his mother in a crowded marketplace. He put his hand on Jeshed's shoulder to calm him. "We received word that she left to return the injured to Ulfynaeus. She will return to transport us to Calabria."

"She did not tell me she was going," insisted Jeshed petulantly.

Taeron was about to tell him that Quynn probably assumed that he would learn of her departure through them, but he realized that Quynn would not do that to Jeshed, that she understood Jeshed's need for her mothering more than anyone. She would not be free of those duties until Larya undertook them and gods help Jeshed when that day came.

Amyr came to him, his arms filled with flowers and when Taeron frowned at him, he tossed them aside. "She did not tell me she was headed out either, Jeshed. She would not do such a thing unless she had a good reason."

"I am afraid," Jeshed admitted.

Taeron could see that Jeshed's admission affected Amyr. If Jeshed feared for Quynn, then perhaps he sensed something that they could not. He could not find the words to reassure Jeshed when he was starting to worry about his sister.

"My sister can take care of herself," Stryfe said. "She may not be an imperial guard, but she was the top cadet of her class in every category. She has brains and she knows how to use them. And now she has fire at her fingertips."

Amyr took a deep, calming breath. "My wife is safe. You are right, Stryfe. Even if she encounters danger, I believe her capable of finding a way out."

Taeron was amazed that Amyr could control the fear that was probably mounting quickly inside him for the safety of his mate.

"We have to believe that Quynn is not in danger," Taeron told them calmly. He could see that even Darlac and his men were agitated by a possible threat to Lord Duo's daughter. "We cannot leave Teralon until Queen Neria is ready to depart, and that will not be until she has stabilized her rule. The emperor gave me orders to remain until that has happened." Taeron wondered if Trey was laughing about the invitation he had given Neria to return to Calabria.

"Taeron!" They all turned to see Chaela burst through the doorway to the steps leading to the royal living chambers. She looked horrified as she saw the wreckage Jeshed's wings had wrought on the site of the royal wedding. "I heard the women screaming. Is the dragon here?" She looked around disappointed, and then her gaze fell on Jeshed.

Taeron glanced at Jeshed who was staring at her as well, and then he turned and leaped over the edge of the roof. Chaela dashed after him, but she stopped to watch as the dragon flew away.

Taeron wondered what had made him behave so oddly and then he knew exactly why.

"Lord prince Taeron! What have you done?" Queen Neria's outraged voice came from the entrance to the palace.

Taeron glanced over the edge of the roof and wondered at his odds of survival.

"Don't try it," muttered Amyr. "You will break every bone in your body. Chaela and I don't have enough Guerani power between the two of us to heal that."

With a sigh, he turned to see Neria standing with her hands on her hips, her wings outspread. "Lord Prince Taeron, you have much to answer for!"


	46. Chapter 46 The queen's banquet

**Chapter 46**

After all the effort that Chaela had gone through to prepare Dijana to attend the banquet at which her mother disbanded the council, Lord Prince Taeron did not even attend! Not that she was looking her best for him! Her mother had demanded that she look presentable when she announced that courting would commence and that her daughter would join the other female candidates. Chaela had chatted excitedly as she combed out her hair and arranged it with bejeweled pins that had been among Sharisse's things. Dijana had not wanted to wear them, but Chaela reminded her that Sharisse had stolen everything from her in the first place. The lovely gown she wore had also come from Sharisse although the maids had to work at altering it to fit Dijana who was somewhat larger than her sister thanks to her giant sire. When she joined her mother, Neria gave her an approving look before leading the way to the banquet hall.

The elders had not attended the banquet, so Dijana guessed that they had wanted to put as much distance between them and Neria as possible. Her announcement of their retirement was met with silence as the men and women gathered probably did not know how to react. Neria did not seem to care as she took her place beside Roehan and ordered the meal to be served. The hall was filled with Roehan's commanders and their mates, so there would be no trouble. Dijana sat between her father and Chaela at the largest of the round tables, of which there were many in the banquet hall that were laden with food and flowers that looked as though they had been through a storm. Her mother was complaining in her imperious voice to her father and anyone else who would listen that Prince Taeron and his band of Calabrian thugs had destroyed her wedding decorations. Now they would have to postpone the celebration until more flowers could be harvested.

"I shall send those imperial scoundrels into the marshlands to collect exotic blooms this time," she vowed.

Prince Amyr arrived with the scribe and Jeshed at his side, but Prince Taeron was not with them. The man who wore black from his headdress to his boots stood behind the Calabrian prince and Dijana noted that his warriors were scattered around the banquet hall. After the furor he had caused on the roof of the palace that afternoon, Dijana could understand Prince Taeron's reluctance to face her mother.

"Did I hear you say that you are sending us into the marshlands?" asked Amyr. Dijana wondered if anyone in the banquet hall did not hear her say it.

The marshlands were so inhospitable that few ventured in, but the flowers growing there were beautiful and fragrant. Dijana had seen such blooms only once when one of Sharisse's admirers had dared to venture into the marshlands for them on her suggestion, and while he had given her a bouquet that had lasted several days, he had lasted only until the following morning when he suffered an agonizing death from the toxic poison of the beasts that he had braved to get them. Dijana had been surprised that the Calabrian forces had not only traversed the large expanse to the north of Nidum harried by winged warriors and venomous creatures in water and air alike, but they seemed robust for the experience. She had heard that some of the warriors had been poisoned, but they had only suffered mild illness when the poison was lethal to the winged warriors.

"Are there forces hiding in the marshlands that we did not eradicate thoroughly?" asked Amyr. He sat next to his sister who was trying to look around him at Jeshed who had placed himself on the other side of Stryfe. If he was trying to hide from Chaela, which it certainly appeared that he was, he had done a good job by placing himself opposite and beyond the enormous display of food and flowers which completely blocked Chaela's view of him.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Neria with an autocratic raising of her chin. "Even if you Calabrians were not so efficient in your butchery, no winged warrior could survive even a few hours in that dreadful swamp. I often dreamed of staking Balak out in the marshland so that he could die a slow and painful death."

"I am glad you don't often confide in me your dreams," remarked Roehan as he signalled to a servant to fill his cup and Dijana's with sweet nectar wine.

Dijana still felt disconcerted in his presence, but after he had taken her from the council chamber and she allowed him to comfort her, she understood why her mother had fallen in love with him and why she loved him still so many years later after everything that had happened. How could she blame this loving man after he stood by Neria in her imprisonment when he could have left her and begun his own life with a female that could have given him children. If Neria would have borne him a child in the northern palace, Balak would have discovered and denounced her. Few would have disputed his right to give her the harshest punishment for betraying the husband she did not even want, had been forced to acknowledge over the corpse of another.

Now Dijana wondered if they might have more children although Neria had already informed her that she expected her and Prince Taeron to offer their eldest winged daughter to rule Teralon. Dijana was not disappointed to be passed over although her mother made it clear to her that it was not because of anything that had happened to her. The invasion from Varoonya was not the first such an occurrence in the history of Teralon, but she hoped it would be the last. With Dijana as the wife of the lord prince commander of the imperial warriors, she doubted any of the worlds on the frontier would dare to attack. Roehan had reminded Neria that the lord prince had yet to court her let alone marry so she should not be counting on Calabrian grandchildren yet.

Taking a sip of her wine after a grateful look at her father who smiled at her before turning his attention to her mother, Dijana sighed as she heard her speaking again.

"You are to gather flowers for my nuptial celebration," she was saying to Amyr.

The prince was digging through the food to find something that would be acceptable to his exacting taste, but he paused to look up and Dijana almost laughed at his shocked expression. "Flowers? You are sending the imperial warriors of Calabria to pick flowers?"

"It is the least you can do!" She frowned as if she noticed for the first time, having been distracted by her wedding plans, that Taeron was absent. "Where is Prince Taeron?" she demanded irritably. "If you are displeased with your duty for me, you have him to blame."

Jeshed peered around the mountain in the middle of the table to look at Dijana's mother. "I humbly beg your forgiveness, beautiful queen, but I am to blame for ruining what would have been a momentous day in your illustrious life."

For the first time, Queen Neria seemed to be at a loss for words. Even Roehan looked at her with surprise. Then she relaxed and smiled pleasantly at Jeshed. "You are Prince Taeron's brother, are you not?" She patted the empty place beside her where Dijana guessed she had planned to trap Taeron. "I accept your apology, Lord Jeshed."

He scooted quickly to her side. "I am not a lord, sweet queen, only the brother of the paladin."

Queen Neria sighed. "If only more of those Calabrians had your manners," she murmured regrettfully. Then she looked at Amyr. "I must insist that you do as I ask. My marriage to Roehan must be a grandiose event or there will be many who question its validity."

"Are the flowers absolutely necessary?" he dared to ask. "On Calabria..."

"They are absolutely necessary!" she cut him off with a near shout and her shoulders twitched as if she wanted to extend her wings. "And I know all about your austere customs which seem more like a male submitting to an executioner than a man and woman pledging their love for each other before their people."

"I will discuss your suggestion with my lord prince," said Amyr as he lifted a fruit to inspect, his distaste in their food obvious.

"It is not a suggestion."

Then the dark clad warrior leaned forward to whisper something in his ear and Amyr smiled. "By the gods, Darlac, you are right!" Tossing the fruit back onto the pile, he turned to the queen as he half-rose from his place. "We will begin the search this night. I am starved and Taeron ate the last of what we collected in the swamp."

"There is food in the swamp?" asked Chaela, dropping the fruit she had in her hand.

"Tasty food," Amyr told her. "There is a green, red spotted beetle this big," he indicated with his fingers, "that is absolutely divine. And the marsh spider is a gift from the gods themselves. Taeron suggested we harvest enough to take back for father to sample."

Dijana thought she was going to be sick.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Neria who had turned her attention away from Jeshed. Dijana wondered if Jeshed was using magic on her to smooth her ruffled feathers over the disaster caused by his own wings.

Amyr launched into a description of their eating practices and at first Neria seemed as disgusted as Dijana, but then she began to listen with interest while Dijana wondered if she would starve to death on Calabria rather than eat any of the variety of creatures that were pests, some deadly, on Teralon.

When he finished, Neria said, "And you believe that the creatures," she swallowed and winced, and Dijana knew her mother was as repulsed as she was at the moment, "that you found in the marshlands would please the emperor?"

"I know so," he told her.

"Then you may harvest them as you do my flowers, but on the morrow. You are here to celebrate and I will not have you marching out now. My people will wonder if I have insulted you or they will fear what mischief your men are getting into, especially after what you did to my celebration preparations."

Sighing, Amyr dropped back down. "As you wish, my lady."

"You have not given me an explanation for Prince Taeron's absence from this celebration."

Thinking of his wound, Dijana remarked, "I know that you all think that he is an impervious god, but he is only a man and needs time to recover from a grievous injury."

Silence met her comment and she realized that everyone was looking at her. Chaela reached under the table to squeeze her hand and Dijana saw that she had a hopeful smile on her lips.

Amyr chuckled. "I think we have found a way for Princess Dijana to look more favorably upon my lord prince. If we can keep them separated, their marriage shall be a complete success!"

Neria laughed and raised the cup that had been filled with wine. "A wise observation."

Dijana glared at him. "I was stating a fact." There was nothing that Calabrian idiot could do or say that would make him palatable.

"So was I," he said, returning her glare with a smirk. "I think my lord prince would be far safer if you were kept away from him."

Dijana felt her face heating and her heart beat painfully as she recalled how she had helped Kai.

"Amyr," warned Chaela who must have sensed her shame. "I don't think Taeron would appreciate how you are speaking to his mate."

Dijana drained her cup of wine when realized that she was, in fact, Prince Taeron's mate, had become so in all ways since the moment she had invited him into the pond on Norvana and he had affirmed it by bonding with her in the old way. That very spot seemed to be tingling now as she remembered the moment.

Chaela's words had a sobering effect on Prince Amyr because he fell silent and he took a sip from the cup of wine.

"Don't drink too much of that," warned Stryfe who held out his cup to a pretty serving woman who filled it and brushed blatantly against him to announce her availability. The human scribe watched her walk away with a twitch of her hips. "I think I am going to enjoy my stay on Teralon."

Jeshed had watched Stryfe interact with the servant and now he remarked, "Why do you think that merely after having your cup filled? I have not noticed that you lack in your desire for fermented beverages on Calabria."

"My dear Jeshed, he is talking about the female," Neria told him.

"What about the female?"

"You truly do not know?" Neria first seemed aghast and then she smiled and leaned closer to him. "I will be delighted to let you know."

"Not here, Neria," warned Roehan.

"His mother is a dear friend of mine and I know she is sorely disappointed in the education her eldest son received. I completely understand her shame since the fool cannot please my daughter."

Dijana's cheeks heated, but she was not going to announce the ease at which Prince Taeron could please her. She would not think about the trance, but there were so many moments on Norvana when he made her forget everything that had happened to her. She would have enjoyed remembering some of those moments, but her father had turned to look at her. His long-suffering grimace as Neria began a quiet lecture to the shape-shifter about the relations between a male and female told her that he would rather be elsewhere.

"You look lovely, Dijana."

Dijana glanced at Chaela who was talking to her brother before responding to her father. "You should thank Chaela. She prepared me for the banquet." She had also convinced Dijana to attend when she would rather have remained in her room than face Prince Taeron. At least he was not in attendance so what she feared most, having to talk to him after he had humiliated her before the council, would not come to pass.

"She dressed you, Dijana, but the beauty is yours."

After so many years of hearing Balak's scorn for her plain features, Dijana was touched by his compliment. "I still think Chaela deserves much of the credit."

"Neria and I are happy that you have made a dear friend although we are leery of her powers."

"Her powers have protected me," she told him quickly. She remembered how Avar and Balak had reacted to Chaela's powers and she feared that her parents would reject Chaela. "She is a healer, not a sorceress."

He patted her hand. "Do not worry, Dijana, I am not about to forbid you her company. When Neria learned of her marriage to Avar, she feared for the emperor's daughter when she knew what kind of man Balak had made of her son, and we are both saddened to realize that her fears were not groundless."

"Avar resented that he had not won the hand of Princess Shamara."

"Then he should not have seduced her sister," he said with disgust. "Avar was Balak's son in every way. The few times he came to the northern palace to visit her, I hid nearby with my weapons drawn in case he made a move against her."

Dijana glanced past him to her mother who was engrossed in her discussion with Jeshed and she noted the armaments with which she was adorned. "My mother seems to be able to protect herself."

"That has not always been true," he told her with a smile. "When she was your age, she was as ill-prepared to face an enemy as you are."

She blushed deeply. "I once thought I could defend myself." First Kai and then Balak and Avar proved how incapable she was.

"I trained her in the dark of night after all but the perimeter guards had gone to their beds," he told her. "Night after night we worked on the skills that have made her the warrior she has become. There were many nights that she did not want to train, but I had only to remind her of what Balak had done to her."

"Balak provided me with a trainer after the Varoonyans were driven off," she told him. Balak had wanted to refuse, telling her it was a waste of a warrior's time, but she had brought the matter to the council who reluctantly agreed with her. At the time she had been happy to learn, but the man had not taught her anything useful, which she did not realize until she tried to fight. Heat crept to her cheeks now as she recalled the time she had attempted to train Taeron.

"There is no time for me to work with you as I did your mother," Roehan said regretfully. "The Calabrians are eager to return to protect the emperor from their internal threat, which is something that Neria understands. Within the month we will be headed there with our own pledged warriors to aid in his war, and I am tasked with training them to work with the imperial warriors."

"Do not worry about her training," said Amyr who had been listening. "My lord prince has already insisted that I train her."

"You?" Dijana was disgusted at the prospect. "Is this Prince Taeron's particular punishment for me after shaming him before the council?"

Chaela laughed. "This is Taeron's idea of a reward! Don't worry, Dijana. I will work with you first, and when you are able to deliver a head-ringing blow, I will hand you over to Amyr so that you can beat him."

She was skeptical about that, and judging by Amyr's smirk, he was not worried.

"Perhaps you should visit my brother in his sickbed," suggested Stryfe who she noted had drained another cup of wine. Dijana knew he was flirting with the serving woman, but he was also becoming inebriated.

"I am not going to visit him! I have no need to court his favor."

"Courting?" Her mother's head snapped her way, proving to Dijana that Queen Neria was aware of everything being said around her although she had been whispering the finer points of female pleasures to Jeshed who listened with rapt attention. "Shall we discuss Lord Prince Taeron's courtship?"

She could not even imagine Taeron courting her like the males of Teralon, certainly not singing ballads as he hovered in the air outside her window as a winged warrior might. In the first place, he did not have wings and in the second, she doubted he could sing although his voice was pleasant when he spoke and especially pleasant when he murmured in her ear.

She was about to say that she did not want to discuss his courtship, but the intoxicated scribe of the emperor spoke before she could even take a breath. "I shall endeavor to record the event faithfully for the emperor."

She looked at her father for help but he looked thoughtful and she was mortified that the scribe would entertain the emperor with the story of her courtship.

"I shall enjoy watching that arrogant Calabrian brute attempting to prove his worthiness to my daughter."

Amyr burst into laughter which Stryfe joined him in.

"Why are they laughing?" asked Jeshed.

"Because they are idiots," Dijana told him before her mother could respond.

Chaela rose and headed to the empty place on the other side of Jeshed, but before she could reach it, the white-haired shape shifter leaped from the table and hurried away and she stopped in midstride to watch him with a perplexed frown. "Why did he do that?" she demanded aloud. "I have not had a chance to talk to him!"

"I think Queen Neria told him too much about women," chortled Stryfe as he waved his cup of wine, spilling some on Amyr who did not even notice. "Now he is as scared as Taeron was when we first came for Princess Dijana."

"Nonsense!" Queen Neria sniffed. "I merely gave him some advice that he was in sorry need of."

"My dear Neria, I only heard a quarter of what you said to him, so I imagine he is overwhelmed." Roehan took a drink of his wine and muttered, "I know that _I_ am."

"When will he allow me to thank him for saving his life?" asked Chaela, trying to follow his departing figure with her gaze. It wasn't difficult because he was tall and he stood out with his long white hair that he had pulled back from his face in a braid like his brother. When he departed the hall, Chaela sighed and dropped down on the place he had vacated.

"He will make some female a good mate," remarked Neria. "After my instruction, how can he fail?"

"How indeed?" wondered Roehan aloud.

"Where is my ink and my pen?" Stryfe called out. "You must tell me what is expected of Lord Prince Taeron so that I might make a list."

Prince Amyr drained his cup and signalled to the serving woman who hurried to refill it without trying to attract his attention. She had tried earlier, and not only had he ignored her, but he had gently shoved her away. Given what Dijana knew of his behavior as the crown prince, she was surprised that he was not taking advantage of his wife's absence to dally with willing females.

"Brother, you are not drinking the wine are you?" demanded Chaela with annoyance. "You know what it does to you!" She called the serving woman to her and whispered something to her.

Amyr ignored her, but his voice was slurred as he spoke to the scribe although he had only drank one cup. "Excellent idea, fool! My father will want every detail of this farce. And so shall I!" Dijana looked at her cup and wondered if the wine was unusually strong.

"I agree with the drunken buffoons," said Neria. "I doubt he and my daughter discussed courting when they were fumbling with each other, so he shall need to be informed of our customs."

After a frown at his queen, Roehan rose and offered his hand to Dijana. "Will you honor me with a walk in the queen's garden?"

Dijana knew that the queen's garden hadn't been cared for in many years, but she did want to escape the group now discussing what Prince Taeron should do to properly court her. She was surprised that Chaela was participating in the conversation, but not so surprised that she had ordered the serving women to water the wine served the males. When they left the dining hall, she became aware of a shadow, and she turned to see that the warrior called Darlac followed several paces behind.

"You will have to get used to it," her father remarked as they entered the overgrown garden. "If you choose Prince Taeron as your mate, you will rarely have private moments with him."

The dark warrior stayed a respectful distance from her, but Dijana doubted Prince Amyr would be so considerate.

Her father stopped and turned her to face him with his hands on her shoulders. "I cannot change the past, Dijana. But I want you to realize how difficult our life in the northern palace was, and how even dreaming of escape was futile. Even if we had known the truth, that you were not Nykos' child, there was nothing we could have done, and I think the truth would have driven us mad knowing that you were in Balak's power."

"I am sorry," she said, reaching up to put her hands on his. "I want to understand, but after everything that has happened, I need more time. Tell me about the northern palace."

The northern palace, he explained, was an abandoned fortress that had originally been built at the northern edge of the marshlands. The balmy heat made it unbearable, so several generations of peace after the last invasion by a frontier world, the queen had decreed it an unnecessary defense, that the marshlands alone would serve. After so many years of disuse, it had become overrun with vegetation and creatures that had made their homes inside. Many men had succumbed to the poisonous creatures in the effort to clean it out, and even Roehan had been attacked and poisoned, barely surviving with Neria's nursing day and night. There were times when the supply shipments did not make it to the palace and they went hungry for many weeks before another shipment would come.

Balak abandoned the soldiers stationed at the northern palace for fear that word of her imprisonment would be discovered, and any visitors were Balak's supporters and they were infrequent. On a handful of occasions Avar or Sharisse had visited, but not out of any affection for their mother. They came to gloat and give her the news that would hurt Neria most, the last time being when Sharisse paid a visit to tell her in detail what the warlord Kai had done to Dijana. She had bragged that she soon expected to supplant her in line to succeed Neria. Once that happened, Balak would have no need to keep Neria alive. So on that same visit, Roehan had managed to bribe one of the soldiers in the squadron that had escorted her to deliver Neria's offer to the emperor to the elder Kaseja who in turn had secretly given it to one of the Calabrian warriors. After driving off the Varoonyans, the warrior returned to Calabria to deliver it to the emperor.

Dijana did not know the history of the treaty with the emperor and she was amazed that it had passed through so many hands before reaching him. That the emperor acted upon it without any way of determining its validity was a testament to his intuition.

"I am sorry, if your mother is not, that your marriage to Lord Taeron was made a part of the treaty. She did not specify Lord Taeron, but a male strong enough to protect you in the future." He stopped and turned to face her. "But now you need not consider him if you do not wish to. There are many strong winged warriors that served us well in the northern palace that would make good mates for you."

Dijana could not imagine being with any other man, but she would not tell her father when he clearly did not like Taeron. "I will think about it," she told him although she would not, not when she was wondering when she could see Taeron to apologize to him for everything she had done.

Her father took her hand and brought it to his heart. "I will not allow anyone to hurt you ever again, Dijana."


	47. Chapter 47 Dijana apologizes

**Chapter 47**

Waking after a disturbed night of sleep, Taeron frowned as he realized he was trapped in his bed. Jeshed was laying next to him, his head on his shoulder while Amyr was sprawled across the foot of his bed snoring loudly. Stryfe lay on the mat on the floor, his arm curled around a half-clothed female.

After they had left the previous evening for the banquet that Amyr forbade him from attending so that he could continue to recover in bed, Taeron had difficulty resting. He wanted to see Dijana, to apologize for what he had done to her in the council chamber, but Stryfe convinced him that the proud princess would probably not attend and Taeron knew he was right because Dijana had not come out of her room since his arrival except to present her petition to the council. He managed to doze, but he was awakened by Jeshed's sudden entrance in the room as if the denizens of the netherworld were on his heels.

Taeron had his daggers in his hands instantly to protect him, but no one was following him, so he relaxed and watched Jeshed pace erratically, trembling and wringing his hands. He wondered if he was worried about Quynn again.

After several moments, he realized Jeshed was not going to speak, so with an inward sigh he asked, "What troubles you, brother?" Calling him 'brother' seemed strange to him, but he could not look at him without seeing both his mother and his father in the shapeshifter, so it was beginning to feel natural to him.

Jeshed stopped mid-stride and he looked at Taeron. "When I see her, I cannot breathe and I have a disturbing feeling in my chest, as if it is going to burst."

Her? He was going to ask who he was speaking about, but Jeshed continued.

"Gracious Queen Neria," Gracious? Queen Neria? "told me about the interactions between males and females."

Taeron groaned aloud. "Jeshed, what did that woman tell you?" At least Taeron had not had to hear Neria's advice although she made it very clear that he needed it, but now Jeshed was going to have to hear it again from Larya.

"She explained how males and females fit together," Jeshed told him and Taeron could see that Jeshed was not sure about the mechanics but Taeron was not going to give him any further instruction. "And when I saw her coming towards me, this body reacted in preparation of mating!"

Taeron winced at the blunt description he gave of his arousal. "Whoever this female is, do not let her know." Was he really giving Jeshed advice? The gods knew he had little experience in such matters! "Keep this information to yourself, and for the love of the gods, do not act upon your urges unless you are bonded." Did shapeshifters bond?

"Stryfe acts frequently upon his urges," argued Jeshed. "I have seen him many times with females with whom he is not bonded. And I know that Prince Amyr …"

"I would not use them as examples," Taeron interrupted him. "Our brother cannot bond with a female and Amyr was a selfish bastard interested in only his pleasures." He also suspected that his excessive need for females had something to do with the emergence of his healing powers, given what he knew about Apolo's shameful experiences with females in his youth.

Jeshed sank down on the edge of his bed, and he sagged forward until he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "I am not worthy of her."

"Queen Neria?" Was he attracted to her? She was a beautiful woman, but Taeron thought Roehan might have an objection. The warrior did not like him as it was, so he did not want his brother snooping around the man's mate.

"I cannot even speak to her!"

No one could speak to that woman once she had something to say. How had Roehan spent the last twenty years with her?

"I have come to realize that people defer to those who have royal blood, and I do not have royal blood. Does that mean she will not consider me as a mate?" Jeshed seemed to be agitated by the thought.

Taeron sighed. "Jeshed, you belong to two powerful Calabrian houses. You are a worthy mate for any female, but you should wait until you have proven yourself before trying to take a mate. And Queen Neria already has a mate, so you should consider another female."

Jeshed turned his head to look at him. "I was speaking of Princess Chaela."

"Chaela?" Taeron was relieved because he had no idea how Neria would react to the attentions of his shape-shifting brother.

"She is the mate the gods have chosen for me."

Taeron doubted that Chaela was in the frame of mind to commit to another male after what had happened with Avar. "She has been badly abused," he told Jeshed. "She will need time to heal."

"I have felt her anger and sorrow," Jeshed responded with a nod. "Do you think, with time, that she would look kindly upon me?"

Since he did not know how the emperor would react to Jeshed, Taeron could not reassure him. "When we return to Calabria, you will begin your imperial training and you will not have time to think about females. In the meantime, you can get to know Princess Chaela."

This advice seemed to relax Jeshed, so he began to question Taeron about the man and woman that he considered their mutual parents. They spoke for some time before Jeshed began to yawn and soon enough his brother was lying beside him snoozing peacefully. His deep breathing lulled Taeron to sleep, but he awakened again later when Amyr and Stryfe stumbled in, the latter supported by a laughing female. Amyr collapsed across Taeron's legs and he knew immediately that he must have had a cup of wine, but Taeron managed to shove him to the foot of the bed. As his personal guard, his diligence was lacking. He should have been on the mat on the floor that Stryfe was making use of with the female he had brought in with him. Taeron was about to scold him and send him from the room, but judging from the female's complaints, his brother had imbibed too much wine again and had passed out.

Taeron did not know how he managed to fall asleep again, but now he was awake and the room was illuminated by the light of the first sun. Since he was trapped, there was nothing he could do but think about where he would rather be and regretted that Dijana would not wish for him to offer his blood again after he had taken her into the trance without her consent. He should have listened to Chaela and not Amyr, and in retrospect, he could not believe he would take any advice from Amyr concerning Dijana. Now he cringed as he imagined what Stryfe would be writing about that episode and he could almost hear the emperor laughing.

He would not laugh long, especially when he saw the scar that Kai's attack would leave. Reaching up now he touched the bandage covering the flesh that had been cleaved by Kai's sword and he frowned as he remembered Dijana's arms wrapping around his legs and the anger he felt to realize that his bonded mate was helping another man kill him. What made him think that her feelings would overcome Kai's control? His overwhelming need to kill the man that had tortured Dijana had made him careless, made him forget his training, made him forget anything but the need to leave warlord Kai a twitching pile of flesh that he would relish lighting afire. But Kai had proved a formidable opponent, and the other man had not balked at using Dijana to prevail. Only Taeron's instincts had saved his life. This time his arrogance and his overpowering need for vengeance had been his downfall, but next time he would be prepared.

A soft knock at the door preceded Chaela's entry into his room. Taeron was surprised to see that Dijana was behind her and he looked around the room in panic that she would see it in the state it was in. Amyr had tossed clothing about before dressing for the banquet the evening before, there were snoring men everywhere he looked and a half-naked female sprawled out on the mat across the room. Worse, he had not had his medicine so his body reacted with painful swiftness to seeing her.

"We are not disturbing you too early, are we?" asked Chaela. As she approached the bed, Dijana moved to the window and his breath caught as the light from the first sun fell upon his mate. He barely felt the sagging of the bed as Chaela sat on the edge near him and busied herself with something on the table beside his bed that was covered with all manner of healing items. His attention was completely focused on Dijana's slender form, curved where she would cradle their children and where she would cradle him in the making of those children.

"I thought Amyr would be in no shape to care for you this morning," he heard Chaela say, and when she took his hand, he wanted to pull his away when her touch drew his attention from Dijana. There was a jolt from her hand, and he looked at Chaela, finding her holding a cup for him. "You need this, I presume."

Since he was beginning to burn for need of the woman across the room, he gladly took the cup and drained it so fast he choked and Chaela had to slap him on the back. Was Dijana smiling? The sight of her curving lips almost made him choke again.

Now Chaela noticed Jeshed sleeping deeply at his side, and since Jeshed had told him that he often entered his dragon form in his sleep, he reached out to stop her from touching him, fearing what might happen. Jeshed might bring her into a trance, and once she was in there, knowing what he did about Jeshed's interest in the female and his complete lack of guile, Jeshed would be unable to keep from blurting his thoughts to Chaela.

"You look like your father," Chaela told Taeron, "but Jeshed looks more like Lady Larya."

Taeron chuckled. "My mother is pleased by that fact."

Chaela continued to look at Jeshed and Taeron wondered if she might be interested in the shapeshifter. "Is he frightened of me?"

"He would not be the first male frightened by you," Taeron said with a smile. Chaela was as beautiful as her mother and every bit as strong willed. Where Shamara had been the biddable first princess, Chaela was the rebellious second princess. Unfortunately, her strong will had landed her a brutal husband that had tried to crush her. Taeron did not need to be Guerani to sense her vulnerability now.

Sighing, she turned her attention back to Taeron. "Dijana did not come here to watch the sunrise." Chaela must have been speaking more to the woman at the window than she was to Taeron because Dijana made a sound of irritation and turned to look at them. Chaela looked back at Taeron. "She wishes to speak to you."

Taeron wished the medicine would take effect faster because he wanted her badly to join him in the bed. The fabric of the gown she wore caught and clung to her curves as she crossed the room, but he almost laughed when she stepped on Stryfe's back. He jerked awake and his female, seeing Dijana and Chaela, squeaked an apology and hurried out drawing her clothing back around her where Stryfe had managed to undress her before succumbing to his excessive drinking.

"What a night! I think I am going to be sick!"

Dijana paused to watch Stryfe stumble to the window where he proved himself a prophet. The sound of his retching out the open window was not pleasant. By the gods! This was no way to make a favorable impression on one's mate!

Chaela sighed and poked at Amyr who grunted and turned away from her but did not wake until she grabbed his hair and gave it a twist that made him yelp in pain. "What kind of guard are you?" she demanded. "I doubt Taeron ever slept like this when he was your imperial guard."

Amyr rubbed his red, watery eyes, and Taeron wondered if he had more than one cup of wine. "I knew you were in here," growled Amyr irritably. "I heard you come in and I sensed who you were, so I had no reason to protect him unless you are planning some sinister act." He glanced from her to Dijana and then to Taeron, his gaze thoughtful, and then his lips quirked in a smile that made the hairs at the back of Taeron's neck rise. This was the feeling he had before battle!

"Come along, Jeshed." Amyr slapped Jeshed across the backside which made his brother jostle Taeron painfully against a part of him that had yet to be eased by the medicine Chaela had given him. The brew had never taken so long to dampen the urges of his body, so he blamed Dijana's nearness although she was viewing the males with open annoyance. "We need to gather the men to hunt flowers."

"Flowers?" Taeron reluctantly dragged his gaze from Dijana to look at Amyr in question.

When he shrugged, Chaela laughed and Taeron felt Jeshed quiver in response. "Queen Neria has demanded that the imperial warriors should go into the marshlands to retrieve flowers for her wedding celebration this evening."

"It is the least your men can do," said Dijana sharply. The first words to leave those lovely lips were a reprimand. So, she was her mother's daughter. Even that sobering thought did not cool his ardor.

Amyr moved to the table and picked up the pot of healing ointment and Taeron felt anxious as he headed to Dijana. When he grabbed her hand, Taeron almost leapt from the bed to protect her, but the touch of both Jeshed and Chaela made him fall back calmly and he watched as Amyr thrust the pot into Dijana's hand. "And the least you can do is apply this to the wound you caused."

Dijana stared at the pot of ointment in bemusement.

Chaela laughed and released her hold on Taeron, and then she looked at Jeshed. "You have not allowed me to thank you for saving my life."

"It has been my greatest honor," Jeshed told her, surprising Taeron with his ability to keep his voice even when Taeron knew that Jeshed's nerves were as frayed as his own.

"My father will reward you for your actions," she told him and then turned her attention to her brother who had grabbed Stryfe's arm and was tugging him away from the window.

Taeron could see that Jeshed was disheartened by her casual dismissal. There was much Jeshed had to learn about the interactions of people, things he would have learned observing as a child. Emotionally he really was little more than a child.

"Let's go, Stryfe. I think the princess wants a few moments alone with her prince."

Dijana put one hand on her hip and Taeron thought she was readying the other to hurl the pot of ointment at Amyr. "I do not like the implication of your words."

"I could use other words, but you might not like them any better," retorted Amyr with a chuckle.

Dijana opened her mouth to speak, but Stryfe belched loudly, so now she looked thoroughly disgusted, but at least she wasn't looking menacingly at Amyr any more.

"Although I am still seeing two of the lovely Princess Dijana," said Stryfe after rubbing his face, "I am sober enough to know that the emperor would want to know the details of this meeting."

Chaela laughed and went to grab Stryfe's arm. "Not these details, scribe. They are not for my father to hear."

Seeing her touching another man, Jeshed's lips formed a pout and Taeron frowned at him. "Help her," he advised in a low voice with a meaningful nod. A male with any sense would find the opportunity to get close to a female in this situation. Jeshed seemed to read his mind and he climbed eagerly over the bed, jabbing Taeron with his knee, making contact again where he would least want it now. He had to bite his lip to keep from yelping in pain.

Shouldn't that medicine be alleviating the problem by now? He wondered if he should order Amyr to remain because once Dijana came to him with the pot of ointment, he would not be able to control his actions. By the gods, if her present mood was any indication, he was going to get the pot smashed against his skull if he tried to touch her.

Dijana watched the departing group with her lips pursed in annoyance and then she turned slowly to look at Taeron and his heart began to race as she approached the bed. "What am I to do with this?" she asked, her voice anything but alluring, but his body reacted as if she huskily asked what she could do to please him.

After a deep, cleansing breath, he said, "Amyr usually applies it to my wound." Amyr had gently applied the ointment as he used his healing powers the previous evening before covering it with the bandage. He thought that in a few days nothing would remain but the scar, and he had taken the opportunity to scold Taeron for not allowing him and Chaela to join their powers to heal him so that he would not have the scar. But Taeron needed it, not to remind him of Dijana's betrayal, but of his own arrogance in believing he was invincible. A man like Kai was feared for a reason and Taeron had underestimated him.

Sighing, she came to the bed, and while she was obviously reluctant, she sat on the very edge and when she reached up to touch the bandage, she lost her balance and nearly fell off her perch. But then she moved against him to put her backside on the bed so that she would not fall and he moaned aloud to feel her even with the blanket between them.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked, straightening abruptly.

What could he say? Maybe she would appreciate some truth. "I hve need of you and your nearness is not helping me repress that need." Taeron was uncomfortably reminded of Amyr begging Quynn at Norvana. Would he be reduced to such behavior? Chaela had given him the medicine, hadn't she?

Now he looked at the table beside the bed and he spotted the packet of powder that Amyr had set out the night before. That conniving imperial snake! He glanced at Dijana quickly to see if she were guilty of conspiring with Chaela, but she was frowning at the table as well. Now she reached out to pick up the packet.

"Is this what you need, my lord prince?" Without waiting for his confirmation, she poured the powder into a cup and as she added water from a pitcher, Taeron mindlessly watched the movements of her body, raising his hand to touch her, knowing that if he did, he would not be able to stop at just a touch.

Dijana turned with the cup and she saw his hand reaching for her. "You are the epitome of a mindless, Calabrian brute at the moment."

" _I am_ a mindless, Calabrian brute at the moment," he told her, his mouth watering as if she were a delicious meal. He tried to distract himself by remembering that green beetle the imperials had discovered in the marshland, of how delightful it had tasted, and that Amyr would bring some back for him. That would be nothing compared to how Dijana would taste and he wanted to taste every inch of her flesh.

To his surprise, Dijana set aside the cup. "Perhaps later."

She was torturing him now and he could see it in her green eyes. She reached up to the bandage again, her fingers gently searching for where Amyr had fastened it. He felt eased where she touched. Taeron should not be surprised that his mate's touch could comfort him as well as excite him, but he and Dijana had only experienced one facet to mating on Norvana, a facet he wanted to resume as soon as possible. There was more to being a mate than producing children. In the bonding ceremony a female vowed to honor and comfort her mate. Then why hadn't she given him the medicine? Should he reach out and take it?

"I shall have to cut it and I do not have anything to do it. I will get a servant."

Before she could rise, he produced one of his daggers, and she frowned as she took it from him, and he sucked in his breath when she brushed his hand with her fingers. "You are, indeed, as fast as the wind, even injured as you are."

"Lady Trynity says it is because the gravity on Calabria is stronger and imperial training to work against that gravity makes us faster elsewhere." Taeron wondered why he was explaining such a thing with his beautiful mate sitting against him on a bed, now handling his dagger in such a way that had him wishing she was handling him. She had tried in the ill-fated trance, but his body had not cooperated. That part of his body was eagerly anticipating her touch now and he was prattling about gravity.

"What is gravity?" she asked as she brushed her fingers over the stones in the hilt of the dagger.

He tried not to think about how her fingers would feel on him. "She told me that it is the force that binds us to the ground."

Dijana looked up from the dagger. "Lady Trynity is your mother?"

"Not my mother, but the beloved mate of my father," he told her as he watched her curl her hand around the dagger. Part of him throbbed painfully.

"I would like to meet her," said Dijana. "Chaela told me that she is a learned, intelligent woman."

"I told her about what happened to you," he admitted. Taeron had wanted to know if she knew anything about blood thralls and Lady Trynity told him that she did not, but she would be interested in studying one. "She wants to help you."

"She does not even know me," said Dijana, her brows drawn together. "Why would she wish to help me? I grew up in this palace and no one ever helped me."

His heart ached for her. "I am sorry, Dijana."

"I do not want your pity!" She was clenching the dagger in her hand now so his erotic thoughts became subordinate to survival and the other dagger was suddenly in his hand.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she seemed to realize how she was holding the dagger, poised over him and she laughed nervously as she lowered it. "You have two! You are like my mother, with armaments covering your body."

He opened his mouth to deny it, but he had left Calabria with two daggers and two swords. "The dagger you hold was given to me by my father. This dagger was given to me by the emperor before my departure."

"You do not mind me holding the dagger," she told him. "I remember on Norvana you would not allow me to touch your sword." She laughed softly as she glanced further down the bed to see the cause of his distress since the moment she had walked into the room. "Now I think you want me to touch your sword."

"Dijana," he warned. "You should not tease me."

She set the dagger aside and short of leaping from the bed, which he would not do because he might harm the healing of his wound and he did not want to stop her anyway, he could not prevent her from sliding her hand beneath the covers.

"Is this what you need, my lord prince?"

By the gods! His eyes rolled back from the pleasure her touch gave him as she handled him as she had the dagger. They had been together enough on Norvana for her to know exactly what she was doing, and if she continued just a moment longer ...

"Dijana!"

She squeaked in dismay and tumbled from the bed and Taeron's vision returned to see her father filling the doorway, his wings snapped out, his features rigid with anger. He suppressed his groan of disappointment in the face of her father's fury.

"What is happening? Roehan, why are you blocking the door with your wings?" Queen Neria was trying to push past her mate, but he was preventing her from entering. The feathers of his wings effectively acted as a curtain.

Taeron took the opportunity to seize the mug of medicine which he gulped down quickly and Dijana scrambled to her feet where she smoothed out her gown and ran her fingers through her hair. The gods were not favoring him this day, except, perhaps a few moments ago. At least the medicine had begun to work its magic before Queen Neria managed to push her mate into the room and move around his wings to see her daughter standing beside his bed, her cheeks flaming as she avoided her father's furious gaze.

Neria glanced from her husband, to Taeron and then to her daughter and her brows rose. "Am I to assume my daughter has been engaging in swordplay again?"

"Neria!" Roehn took a step toward her, but she shrugged.

"They are mates, Roehan. Prince Taeron should be angered that we have invaded his privacy."

"I will not consider my daughter his mate until he proves his worth."

"He proved his worth on the battlefield," Neria reminded him.

Dijana looked at Taeron. "I came to apologize for what I did in the trance," she told him. If not for the medicine, her blush would arouse him further.

"My daughter is not a prize for battlefield feats!"

Taeron grimaced. "I am sorry that I shamed you before the council."

"Your daughter will be the wife of the lord prince of Calabria! Do not compare her with a battlefield trollop."

Dijana had turned her attention completely away from her arguing parents and she returned to the bed where she took up the dagger to cut through the bandage. "I shamed myself before the council," she told him with her eyes downcast.

"Is that all you care about, Neria? He is a vicious Calabrian butcher!"

Peeling the bandage gently away, Dijana let out a ragged breath when she had completely revealed the puckered red flesh running diagonally across his torso. "I caused this! How can you ever forgive me?"

"He is the warrior we demanded of the emperor!" Neria snapped at Roehan.

Taeron gently took her wrists and pulled her to him. "I love you, Dijana. Forgive me for failing to kill him when I had the chance."

She burst into tears and buried her face in his neck and as Taeron held her, he realized that her parents had ceased fighting. Queen Neria's blue gaze was glistening with tears and Roehan was watching with his lips pressed together in disapproval.

"You will make her miserable," he predicted after a moment. "But I insist that you court my daughter, and since Prince Amyr could not think of any Calabrian courtship ritual that was not akin to purchasing a female from a slave market or clubbing her male relatives insensate before hauling her away on the back of a horse, you will court her as a Teralonian male courts a female."

Dijana pushed away from Taeron, wiping her eyes. "Father!"

"It pleases me to hear you call me father, but not in that tone. I will not suffer your defiance in this matter!" He held out his hand. "You have spent more than enough time in his presence already!"

"Mother?" Dijana looked at her mother, but Neria crossed her arms over her chest.

When Neria did not respond, Taeron was afraid that Dijana was going to childishly stamp her foot as she had in the council chamber, but she straightened her spine and marched past her parents, leaving without looking back.

Neria watched her leave and then glared at her mate for a moment in tense silence before saying, "You expect something of Lord Prince Taeron that you have not done either."

Roehan huffed. "Just what are you talking about?"

The queen raised her chin. "I was denied a courtship, but I did not hear you argue for mine before the council. I think you take me for granted, Roehan. If you want to be my mate, I would like to be properly courted."

The giant warrior stared at her incredulously for a moment and then spun on his heel to head to the door.

"You may present yourself along with the others," Neria said to his back before he strode out.

Taeron did not know which of them was more frightening. When he had gone, Neria turned her attention to him and he cringed in anticipation of what she would say, but she surprised him. "My daughter is in love with you, despite everything, and that pleases me greatly. I never imagined that Trey would send a warrior that could conquer her heart as easily as he could conquer her enemies."

Taeron shook his head. "I did not conquer her heart, my lady. She conquered mine."

Neria laughed. "Where is the scribe? You may have need of him to help you prepare your courtship. Remember to use those words in the song." Without further explanation, she left him.

Only moments later, Chaela returned and she did not look at him as she took the pot of healing ointment to apply to his wound to which she added her own healing magic. After several moments, she burst out, "I am sorry, Taeron!"

"Why do you apologize? Have you done something that I am unaware of?" He knew what she was apologizing for, but he did not think it necessary. If Dijana's parents had not barged in, he would be spending an enjoyable morning with his mate.

Chaela reached out to touch his hand. "Dijana wanted to apologize, and when I saw the state you were in ..." She blew out a breath. "Avar was never bonded to me, so he was never that frantic to be with me, and since I know how Dijana truly feels..."

"Do not betray Dijana's confidences to me," Taeron warned her. "She needs you to be _her_ friend, Chaela ,not _my_ ally."

Chaela looked away for a moment, obviously feeling guilty, and then she said, "I thought I was helping both of you."

He took her hands. "In the future, Chaela, worry only about doing what is best for Dijana."

She smiled at him. "I see the golden light around you."

Taeron frowned and released her. He felt no different and he saw no light. "You are imagining it."

"I will be Dijana's friend and protector," She vowed. Seeing the dagger that Dijana had set aside, Chaela picked it up. It was the dagger that his father had given him and Taeron remembered with fondness how overjoyed he had been when Lord Duo handed it to him, hilt first to show him the stones of his house. Chaela now took the other dagger and he watched her do a few practice moves with them before she sighed and set them aside. Chaela had been an apt pupil in imperial training, but she had not been strong enough to wield a sword so she had become adept at using daggers.

Taeron took the dagger he had received from his father and held it out to her. "Use this to keep my mate safe."

Chaela stared at it for a moment and her eyes went to the dagger with the stones of her father's house. "I noticed that Amyr carried your father's sword and you carry the sword of my father's house."

"Your father has taken me into his house," Taeron reminded her. "He has the right and I am honored."

She looked at the dagger he offered her and then she threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Taeron, for the honor you have given me. I will guard Dijana with my life."

Long after she left with the dagger, Taeron wondered what the emperor would think of his daughter wishing to be Dijana's guard. Trey would probably be as shocked as Taeron that Chaela would do such a selfless thing when she had been Trey's most selfish child after Amyr. The two of them had been bitterly envious of Shamara, of the the Guerani powers she had from birth, of her place as first princess. Taeron wished tragedy had not been necessary for them to realize they had no reason to envy her.

The second sun was setting before Amyr returned with Stryfe, Jeshed and Darlac, the three in a good mood and bringing with them the edible delights they had gleaned from the marshlands. Once they had all enjoyed a meal, although Taeron guessed by their lack of appetite that his brothers had snacked prodigiously while finding flowers, Taeron fixed Amyr and Stryfe with the most fearsome gaze he could after filling his belly with such delicious food and inquired, "What is this I hear about a song?"

All the men laughed and Taeron feared that he was not going to like what the courtship entailed, especially when he saw the anticipatory gleam in Stryfe's eyes.

Gods, this debacle would entertain Trey for years to come!


	48. Chapter 48 The courtship begins

**Chapter 48**

After Dijana left Taeron, her father soon followed on her heels and escorted her to her room where he left her with strict instructions to stay away from that 'Calabrian brute'. Dijana waited for what seemed like an eternity before she opened her door to return to Taeron, not giving a wit about her father's orders. But he must have anticipated her disobedience because there were two winged warriors standing in the corridor, Guillem and Valter. They were attractive males that usually escorted her mother as her personal guard, and by their excessive flattery, she suspected her father was trying to tempt her away from 'that Calabrian brute.' Dijana wondered if her father had given any thought to how the emperor would feel about them reneging on their agreement, especially after he had sent the lord prince commander of all his warriors to Teralon a second time to quell the rebellion and liberate the queen from imprisonment. He might not be pleased if Lord Prince Taeron returned without his bride.

With a sigh, she closed her door on the flattery of the two winged warriors and waited for Chaela to return. When she did, Dijana did not even get a chance to ask her about Taeron because she was so excited that he had given her his dagger and charged her with protecting Dijana. As Chaela showed her the dagger, Dijana could only think about sitting with Taeron on his bed. She had not needed to take his blood because Chaela had offered her own and Dijana was not too proud to refuse. Seeing Taeron unclothed but for the bandage across his body had brought back many heated memories of Norvana, and when she realized that Chaela had not given him the medicine that cooled his ardor, Dijana decided to take advantage of his need. She had been so angry at her father for his interruption that she had not responded to anything he said as he escorted her to her chamber. With guards outside the door, Dijana felt as much a prisoner now as when Balak ruled.

Finally she decided to speak to her mother. If anyone would understand her desire to be with her own mate, Queen Neria would. So she set off with Chaela in the direction of the chamber that her parents shared, Guillem and Valter trailing behind like puppies. Chaela had rolled her eyes when she saw them before she ignored them as Dijana did.

Turning the corner to enter the corridor where the queen's large private chambers were located, she was taken aback to see her father standing before the closed door, his belongings scattered in the hallway around his feet.

Chaela snickered softly and leaned in to say, "I've seen this before. When my mother is very angry, she throws my father out of their chamber, and he is out for at least a night or two."

Dijana glanced at her. "I am eager to meet the emperor and his wife after all that you have told me." She could not imagine a man as powerful as Emperor Trey reduced to the sorry state that Dijana's father was in as he stared in bewilderment at the closed double doors.

Seeing Dijana, Roehan frowned, but his only words were for Guillem and Valter. "See that my things are taken to the guard barracks." With that, he marched past Dijana and Chaela.

When he had gone, Dijana knocked on the door, and it was opened by a serving woman who seemed relieved to see that it was Dijana. "The queen is in a mood. I leave you to her." The serving woman hurried out past Dijana and Chaela.

Neria was pacing, her wings extended behind her, and when she turned, her face furious and her mouth open to speak, Dijana guessed she had assumed that Roehan had returned because when she saw Dijana she closed her mouth after blowing out her breath in exasperation.

"That man is impossible! I don't know why I put up with him."

"Because you love him?" asked Chaela with a knowing smile. "Or he is a good lover? Or both?"

Neria looked at her. "You are impertinent, princess."

"Well, if he angered you and you didn't love him, I imagine he would be imprisoned or cut to ribbons."

To Dijana's surprise, her mother laughed. "You are right, princess. I don't know why you have come, but you may as well have tea with me. Lady Larya gifted me with a supply of this wondrous herb before I left."

The three women sat around a small table on padded chairs near the window. Dijana was not completely comfortable in her mother's presence, and even though she was her daughter, she was awed by the queen. The Neria that had been driven out by Balak must have been very different from the overbearing woman she had become.

As she prepared the tea, she talked of the enthusiasm in which the Calabrians had returned to the marshlands, and while she commented briefly on the flowers she had instructed them to bring back, she was more interested in their desire for the insects that she hoped would interest the emperor enough to make a trade agreement. If the Calabrians thought of the pests as a delicacy she hoped they could make a favorable deal and Chaela agreed with her that her father would probably be interested in a steady supply. The emperor had hoped to have that kind of relationship with Teralon after her marriage to Avar, but Balak had balked at any agreement with Calabria that would make it more subordinate than it already was.

Following that discussion to which Dijana had little to add, her mother did not give her a chance to ask her to allow her to visit with Taeron because Neria began to speak of candidates for the new council. She did not know any of them, so she just listened to her mother, not really paying attention. The remaining members of the old council had been escorted to their estates although Neria doubted they would remain docile. They had spent many years with power and would not give it up easily.

"My fervent wish is for them to act while Prince Taeron and his band of ruffians are on Teralon. I saw in his eyes how very much he would like to butcher the lot of them," she commented after taking a sip of tea.

Dijana frowned. "Why should he wish to do that? He does not know them as I do." Taeron's defense of her after what she had said about him before the council made her eyes mist. Why did he have to be so considerate? Did he ever do anything selfish?

Her mother must have realized she was overwhelmed because she moved to put her arms around her and Dijana was surprised that she felt grateful for her mother's comfort. "You have found something very wonderful, Dijana. He loves you very much."

After everything that had happened to her, she did not feel worthy of Taeron's love.

A moment passed and then Neria sat back and smoothed out the long skirt of her gown. "You have not asked about your father." Dijana opened her mouth to ask what she really wanted to, not caring why her mother was arguing with her bullheaded sire, but her mother continued. "Because he has proven himself unrelenting in demanding that Prince Taeron court you despite your feelings for each other, I reminded him that he did not court me. So, while your mate is making a fool of himself to claim you, I shall enjoy watching Roehan do the same for me."

Her mother paused and Dijana spoke quickly before she could continue. "Mother, I should like to spend time with my mate."

A knowing smile curved her lovely lips and Dijana caught Chaela trying to hide her own smile. Had she sounded desperate? "My dear, I am delighted that he pleases you, albeit somewhat surprised, but if I give in to you, I shall have to forgive Roehan as well and I am not willing to do it."

Dijana was surprised that she was able to reign in her anger although Chaela's hand on her arm must receive more credit than her own self-control. "I must sound very selfish," she said instead of what she really wanted to say, that she did not give a god's damn about her parents' courtship woes.

"Dijana, after everything that has happened to you, you have a right to be selfish. However, I have given Roehan's demands some thought and I must agree with him on one point. The hero of Varoonya lied to you and he has not been held accountable."

"I am sure that he suffered greatly in his dishonor," pointed out Chaela. "Taeron worked so very hard to overcome the circumstances of his birth, and after what happened with my brother, then his lapse in judgment concerning Dijana, the shame he felt must have been unbearable."

"Indeed," remarked Dijana's mother after taking a sip of tea. "I recall now how he groveled at the emperor's feet, tears streaming from his eyes as he told the emperor how much he loved you, Dijana, despite the anger of the emperor. At the time I was furious to see how Sharisse had destroyed such an honorable man, but now," she paused to wipe a tear from the tip of her dark lashes, "now I am moved by the depth of his love. He defied his emperor and his own honor for you."

Dijana opened her mouth to ask her mother again to allow her to be with him, but Neria sighed and said, "He will have the same opportunity to prove his worthiness along with the rest of the winged warriors."

"Mother! You cannot expect the lord prince of Calabria to sing a ballad to me!" Now Dijana was furious. "You will humiliate him with this ridiculous demand! And I think that my father has invited others to vie for my attention."

"I am sure that he has!" Neria laughed in the face of Dijana's anger. "I saw him speaking earlier with Guillem and Valter, two wonderful males, and I imagine he is inviting others to contest the Calabrian's right to you."

"Mother, Teralon has an agreement with Calabria! How will the emperor feel if we break it?"

"You did not seem overly concerned about that when you were accusing the lord prince of being less than capable as a male," Neria reminded her tartly. She raised a brow. "Did you find evidence to the contrary this morning?"

Her face grew hot and she shot Chaela a glare, but her friend was smiling into her tea.

"Your arguments are moot, Dijana, when we know you will choose Lord Prince Taeron despite anything your father says or does." She smiled and added, "Or should I say because of everything your father says or does."

"The latter is probably true," remarked Chaela with a humored glance at Dijana.

"Let us have an end to this discussion. Tonight the courtship will begin and I have not heard Lord Prince Taeron refuse to participate. You should return to your room to rest, but I wish to have a few private words with Princess Chaela. I have been dreadfully remiss in not expressing my sorrow at her loss. I did not know Kaerwen, and I would like to know something of the grandchild I was never able to hold in my arms."

Dijana glanced at Chaela first to see if she wanted her to stay, and when Chaela shook her head, Dijana stepped out of the room. In the corridor she found that Guillem and Valter had returned after doing their errand for her father. The former was golden-haired with brilliant blue eyes and a dazzling friendly smile, the latter had dark brown hair and dark eyes that viewed her with open interest in her body. She mused that less than a year ago men like them would not have given her a second look, and after Kai had finished with her, every male had turned his head away from her when she passed. Now their looks made her feel like ripe fruit that they wanted to sink their teeth into and she did not like it.

When Chaela finally came to Dijana's room after nearly an hour, her eyes were watery, but she smiled at Dijana when she took her hand. "Your mother was very kind," she told Dijana as they sat near the window in her chamber. "She wanted to know everything about Kaerwen, and I had not realized how much I wanted to talk about him until she asked me." Chaela wiped away tears that spilled onto her cheeks and Dijana moved to hold her in her arms. "I loved him, Dijana! He was the only thing that made living here bearable. When Avar turned away from me, I told him I would return to Calabria, but he warned me that he would not allow me to take Kaerwen. In the end, he took Kaerwen anyway."

Dijana considered consoling her by telling her that Kaerwen had gone to the gods, but that would not console her if he had been her child. She did not know how Chaela could bear his loss.

Chaela squeezed her hands. "I will always feel his presence with the ancestors," she told Dijana. Although Chaela had tried to explain the communion of the ancestors, Dijana did not understand it, but if Chaela was able to feel peace with her beliefs, then she was happy for her.

Wanting to check on Taeron, Chaela suggested that Dijana rest for the evening's festivities. Although his wound was greatly improved with aid from Amyr and Chaela's combined healing powers, one of the courtship tasks was to prove worthiness in combat, so she wanted to use her powers on him again. Having no recourse, especially with Guillem and Valter lurking outside her room to limit her movements, she had no choice but to remain when she wanted to accompany Chaela. But she did not rest. She paced until Chaela returned and assured her that Taeron would be fit to fight in three days. That he should have to prove himself a worthy warrior after all he had done on Teralon was not only laughable, but an insult to both Taeron and Calabria.

The evening meal could not come soon enough. Dijana was eager to see Taeron and hoped she would have an opportunity to tell him what she thought of this courtship ritual. When she was young and watched other women being courted, she had daydreamed of a handsome warrior that would honor her with his attention even though she knew the council would choose her mate. Tonight the females took the meal segregated from the males and Queen Neria sat with Chaela and Dijana as well as several other young females who chattered excitedly about what would happen that night. During the day, an anonymous message had been sent informing the female that a male wished to be considered as her mate. There was no mystery about who the male was although the women giggled and pretended to speculate who would approach, dressed in finery, to give his name, his antecedents and an accounting of his ability to provide for her future.

The finely dressed males were on their best behavior and Dijana had noticed a marked change in how they behaved when her mother presided over a meal as opposed to Balak. Now the female serving women did not have to worry about them groping them or dragging them on their laps. More than once Balak had laughed when a male had thrown a woman over his shoulder and hauled her out of the dining hall. When Dijana had asked him to help the female, he had laughed and told her that the female had wanted it. She had been a small child when she had innocently asked, and she had accepted his words as truth. No wonder Chaela had refused to dine in the hall after arriving on Teralon. Dijana had always believed it was due to her snobbery, that as the daughter of the emperor she was too good to dine with her husband's people. Dijana knew better now, and as she watched Chaela speak with Neria, their heads bent together, conspiratorial smiles on their lips, she thanked the gods for giving her such a wonderful friend. Chaela had called her 'sister of her heart' and Dijana had come to realize how important such a distinction was to a Calabrian. She felt the same for Chaela.

When the meal finally came to an end, the servants cleared the tables away from in front of the females who standing in lines on either side of their seated queen. The males would approach their chosen females to announce their intention, having already asked their parents for permission. Dijana had not seen the Calabrians enter and she feared that Taeron was insulted and would not attend the opening of the ritual, but a commotion at the doors drew everyone's attention and the Calabrian entourage entered. Stryfe and Darlac led the group, both arrayed in fine tunics, the latter wearing his customary black, and when they approached the dias where the females who had been summoned waited, they parted to reveal Amyr and Jeshed, also finely arrayed. They bowed to Queen Neria who was delighted by the glamorous display, then stepped aside to reveal their prince.

Wearing a deep purple blue tunic trimmed with gold that shimmered when he moved, his long hair held back from his face with a golden clasp adorned with a sparkling gem that matched the color of his eyes, the lord prince of Calabria was so dazzling that nobody could speak, least of all Dijana.

She gasped in surprise when he stepped forward and dropped to one knee before her mother. "Gracious Queen Neria of Teralon, I humbly beg your permission to seek your beautiful daughter's favor."

The females in the room, Dijana included, seemed to heave a collective dreamy sigh. As she waited for her mother's response, Dijana could not even breathe and she started to feel dizzy, but Chaela tugged on her hand and she gulped in a breath. She was being silly! Taeron was her mate! Her mother was not going to refuse to give him permission!

But Neria sat silently on her grand, padded chair, smiling with pleasure as she looked upon the lord prince. Could anyone blame her? He put every male in the room to shame with his beauty, the aura of strength locked in his finely formed body and with the flattery that spilled from his lips. Dijana guessed that the scribe had something to do with his choice of words, but she was not going to take her eyes from Taeron to see his brother preening.

After an embarrasing amount of time, Queen Neria nodded her ascent and Taeron rose to approach Dijana. The sultry look in his eyes when they met hers made her catch her breath and Chaela grasped her elbow to keep her upright as he stood before her. Had he always been that tall? She had to raise her chin to look up at him.

"Beautiful mate," he began and continued, ignoring the gasps of outrage from a small group of males nearby, among which notably stood Guillem and Valter, "I humbly come before you to ask your permission to prove my worth to you." As he listed his achievements, Dijana drank in the sight of him, wondering how she could find a way to be with him. She wanted to peel off his finery, to loosen his hair and run her fingers through it, to run her hands over his rigid muscles and press her lips to those perfectly formed lips that were suddenly no longer moving.

With a start, she realized he had finished and everyone was waiting for her answer. What should she say? "You may," she finally managed to say softly.

He smiled at her and when their eyes met, she felt her heart beat faster, as if he had taken her permission to mean something far different. When he stepped back, Dijana sighed in disappointment and she heard Chaela laughing softly.

Unfortunately, Dijana had to give the same permission to several other males who also received her mother's permission to present themselves. She could not be churlish to the men although they could surely guess where her favor would rest. Guillem and Valter also stepped forward one at a time, but she could barely pay any attention to what they said to her because her eyes kept searching for Taeron who had stepped away with his men. She wondered what he was thinking about the other males that would court her, but he did not seem to be angry. Why should he? She was his mate in all ways, but especially in her heart.

At least a dozen women were being courted, but only Dijana had several suitors. The last female had given her male permission, and yet Roehan had not made an appearance. There was a long stretch of silence during which Queen Neria drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair, her face impassive as she waited, and after a few moments, Dijana sensed that her mother was anxious when her mate did not step forward because she turned her head to look in all directions for him. Dijana had not even seen him during the meal, and now she worried that her mother had driven Roehan away.

With a pained frown furrowing her brows, she was about to speak when another man stepped forward. Jeshed came to bow before Dijana's mother who looked at him with surprise. "Gracious queen, I humbly beg for the honor to present myself to you."

She stared wide-eyed at that handsome young man, her mouth half-open in surprise, but when it appeared she might grant him permission to court her, a commotion to the back of the males forestalled whatever she planned to say.

A pair of golden-tipped wings spread out and the crowd parted to allow Roehan to step forward. "Don't be ridiculous, Neria! You will not accept his offer. You are old enough to be his mother!"

Neria gasped in outrage and her hands gripped the arms of the chair. "How dare you!"

"I dare because I am your mate!"

"You have not asked permission!"

"You gave your permission twenty years ago in a dark, dirty corner of the palace and I have been at your side since then, my queen, my lover, my life." He grasped a handful of Jeshed's pale hair, and he yanked him away, tossing him back towards the Calabrians who had not made any move to retaliate for his primitive behavior. "Recognize me as your consort here and now or I will return to the northern palace without you."

"Who is acting like an uncivilized brute now?" demanded Neria although Dijana sensed she was enjoying herself.

"Neria?" he growled in warning.

"But the Calabrians brought so many beautiful flowers from the marshlands..." she said, her voice suspiciously sounding like a whine. Queen Neria did not whine, did she?

Dijana noticed Taeron signal to Amyr who had raised his hand to wave to someone at the back doors to the hall. She wondered what they were up to when the dark clad warriors from the second moon filed in along with scores of Calabrian imperial warriors carrying large bouquets of beautiful, colorful flowers that filled the air with exotic fragrance. Dijana had never seen such a beautiful display.

"Oh!" cried Neria, tears in her eyes as they arranged the exotic blooms. "You are a hateful man, Roehan!"

Chaela leaned closer to Dijana. "Stryfe is going to be spending days and days telling my father about his stay on Teralon. Can you imagine Taeron planning this?"

Taeron's face did not betray his thoughts as he watched her parents with his arms folded over his chest. Jeshed was rubbing his head where his hair had been pulled and the scribe was whispering to Prince Amyr while the dark warrior stood watching with a smile.

"And you have been an annoying, overbearing female since the first moment you walked past me and reprimanded me for ogling you. For the record, Neria, I was ogling your serving woman, not you."

Her mother gasped in outrage.

He dropped to his knee before her and held out his hand to her. "I would never have dared to look at my queen in such a way until you drew attention to yourself. You and I have gone to the netherworld and back, Neria. I would gladly do it again to be at your side. I love you, my queen."

"Even when I am annoying and overbearing?" she queried softly as she reached out to take his hand to bring to her heart.

"By the gods, Neria, when are you not?"

She cupped his face in the palm of her other hand."Then I acknowledge you as my consort and my mate." Then her brows drew together. "Be warned, Roehan, that if you try to be more than my consort, I will not hesitate to cut off your wings and leave you to bleed to death in the marshlands."

While Dijana gasped in shock at her mother's ruthlessness, her father chuckled. "Neria, I would expect no less."

The celebration lasted far into the evening and when it was finally over and the guests had left the impromptu wedding, Dijana was glad to return to her room with Chaela. She had been disappointed that Taeron had left early with his brothers, but Chaela reminded her that he was still not recovered from his injuries. He would need all his strength to prove his worthiness in protecting her. Taeron would not wish to falter in her eyes.

While Dijana removed her clothing and readied for bed, Chaela stood at the window that she had thrown open wide to let in the light from the moon. Dijana slipped into her bed and waited for Chaela to come to her, to offer her wrist as she did every night.

Chaela looked a the moon for a moment longer and then she went to the bed. "Forgive me, Dijana, but I wish to sleep in my own bed tonight. You do not need to feed, do you?"

Dijana tried not to feel hurt as she shook her head. She had gotten used to Chaela's company, and she wanted to talk to her about Taeron, but her friend probably wanted time alone to think about Kaerwen after the conversation she had with Dijana's mother that afternoon.

"I don't think Kai will come to your dreams," Chaela told her. "He has not tried since his fight with Taeron. He may be too far away to control you or he is afraid of Taeron."

"If it were not for me, Taeron would have killed him," Dijana admitted sadly.

Chaela kissed her cheeks. "I will see you in the morning." Before leaving, she blew out the candles and left her alone with only the light of the moon.

Although she was tired and the first sun would soon appear over the horizon, Dijana had a hard time sleeping. Thoughts of Taeron and how handsome he had been kept her awake. Where Dijana had been reviled after Kai left, she was now the envy of all the women at her mother's court. She truly did not deserve him after everything she had done, after everything that had happened to her. Dijana would do whatever she could to make him happy. She did not have to hear him tell her in poetry or song that he would do the same for her.

As if her thoughts could conjure his voice, she heard him from far off just as she was finally drifting to sleep.

"Can you not climb any faster?"

"You should have gone first!" Was that Amyr's voice? Why was that bastard in her dreams?

"You are my guard. You are to precede me to make sure there is no danger." Taeron was scolding Amyr. What kind of dream was this? Dijana smiled with her eyes closed. Taeron needed to scold Amyr more often. A beating would be nice. Could she make the Taeron of her dreams beat Amyr until he begged for mercy?

"This is ridiculous! Whose idea was this?" Amyr sounded very annoyed.

"Shamara's."

"Shamara? She is not even here!"

Shamara? The first princess? Dijana opened her eyes. This was not a dream, and now she realized that the voices were coming from outside her window.

"She made me climb down with her from her chamber at the imperial palace to meet Prince Dagan during the night."

"My sister did that?" Amyr whistled. "She was a naughty girl!"

"Your father caught her and I thought he would strip me of my duty."

Dijana threw back her blanket and crept to her window. She noticed that there was a rope attached securely and hanging out, and she realized Chaela must have done it when Dijana was readying herself for bed. Depending on the outcome, she would either scold or thank her in the morning.

She peeked out to see that the two men she had heard talking were climbing up the rope. They were dangling so far above the ground that she was horrified until she saw the shape of the dragon cross the moon, and she put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing with delight as she stumbled from the window and hurried back to her bed. Now her heart raced with anticipation for them to reach her room.

"You realize it is far easier to shimmy down a rope than to climb up. And none of the towers at my father's palace are this high. Damn birds!"

"Shut up and keep going or I am going to climb over you."

There was no more talking but Dijana could hear Prince Amyr's grunting with the effort to climb and she was startled when he slapped his hand on the window sill and hauled himself over.

"Quiet! You will wake her," warned Taeron.

Amyr stood at her window for a moment, his head turned toward the bed where she was pretending to sleep, nearly hiding her head beneath the blanket. He grunted and reached out to jerk Taeron through the window. "She is already awake and planning how best to handle your sword."

Dijana gasped angrily, and sitting up, she launched a pillow at Amyr's head, but he ducked and she watched with annoyance as it sailed out the window.

"I have plenty of practice, princess, and besides, I am an imperial warrior."

The second pillow hit the side of his head as he was bragging and he toppled out the window with it.

Crying out in horror, she leaped from the bed to dash to the window, but Taeron caught her around the waist and brought her against his body. "Forget about him," he murmured, his lips against her neck. "The medicine is wearing off and I don't want to waste a moment on that fool."

"But I have killed Prince Amyr!"

She heard a snort of laughter and she bent away from Taeron to look out the window to see the emperor's son holding the rope with one hand and swinging as if he were a child under a tree and not dangling so high above the ground that his body would be broken to bits if he fell. "Do you want me to get your pillows, princess?"

"Has he been drinking wine?" she asked with a frown. Many men and women had been drinking excessively to celebrate and would suffer very nasty consequences in the morning.

Taeron lifted her in his arms. "No, he is just a fool. If he falls, it will be his own fault."

With the dragon nearby, she doubted he would fall to his death, so she curled her arms around Taeron's neck. "Did you have something in mind, my lord prince?"

"We don't have time for everything in my mind, but I warn you to be prepared after this courtship foolishness is done. From sunup to sundown and the hours in between for several days won't even be enough time."

Dijana laughed when he tossed her on the bed and covered her body with his. "Then you had best get started, my lord, for the first sun will soon rise."

He lightly kissed her lips. "Don't worry about your father. Your mother promised to keep him busy until well after the second sunrise."

"Are you and my mother allies now?" she teased.

"She is indebted to me," he told her as he busied himself with finding the fastenings of her night shirt. "I gave her a beautiful wedding."

"Will you give me a beautiful wedding?" she asked as she ran her hands through his hair.

"On Calabria," he told her. He had given up with the fastenings, but he did find his way beneath the shirt and she gasped when he stroked his hands along her flesh. "My mother would never forgive me if she could not preside over my nuptials."

"I imagine it will be grand," she murmured as she nuzzled his neck.

"I did not come here to make wedding plans that my mother has probably made already." The garment she wore to bed ripped in his hands.

"My lord! You are a Calabrian brute!" But Dijana did not mind at all. Not one bit.


	49. Chapter 49 The ballad

**Chapter 49**

The deposed council members did not have the sense to wait until the Calabrians left to retaliate for losing their power. Upon leaving Dijana's room, Taeron was attacked by a handful of men heading in his direction with swords and daggers drawn, men that he recognized as palace guards. They had been surprised to see him, so Taeron knew they had not been sent by Roehan to remove him from contention for Dijana's hand. Taeron had been distracted after leaving Dijana's bed, and weakened after giving her blood twice, but Amyr pushed him aside and did his duty, backing them down the corridor. He left the walls near the queen's chambers splattered with blood and feathers.

The unguarded doors swung open to reveal the half-dressed prince consort, his staff in his hands gripped under his arm with the deadly blade on the end ready to thrust. Seeing the carnage on the floor and sensing no more threat, he stepped aside to allow Neria to pass. She was wearing a hastily donned robe, and looked as though what few moments of sleep she had gotten during the night had been disturbed.

Her bleary blue gaze took in the gore, then she looked at Taeron. "I see that you Calabrians have been busy this morning. Can you not confine your need for bloodletting to the courtyard?"

"This was as far as I could get them," Amyr said as he wiped his sword on one of the corpses.

"Where, exactly, were you coming from?" asked Roehan skeptically, his emerald gaze traveling down the hall to rest on his daughter's chamber before returning with accusation to rest on Taeron.

Taeron did not want to lie, and he opened his mouth to tell Dijana's father that he had been with her, but Neria huffed. "Roehan, are you that obtuse? He was trying to sneak past our door yet again, but this time he was foiled from his attempt to see our daughter by these fools." She nudged one of the dead men on the floor with the toe of her slipper. "Do you recognize them? Are these not men of your guard?"

Roehan narrowed his eyes on Taeron for a moment, before looking at the dead men on the floor. "They were," he muttered as he squatted to turn one of the men over. "Except this one. I believe he is Jaleila's nephew."

"She was a dear friend of Balak's mother, so I am not surprised" remarked the queen to herself, and then she looked at Roehan. "Do see to it that we are no longer bothered with Jaleila. You may make the usual offers to her men for I hate to waste good warriors, but I want her head."

Her mate put his hand to his heart and bowed to her as she moved past him to return to her chamber, but when the door had closed, Roehan raised his head to spear Taeron with a fierce look. "I am not a fool. Your behavior with my daughter displease me greatly, but if you had not been with her, these bastards may have harmed Dijana."

"If I had not been with her, Princess Chaela would have, and she would have kept them from reaching her," Taeron told him, confident in Chaela's ability to protect Dijana.

Roehan frowned. "You imperials are very certain of yourselves and each other."

Since the statement was true, Taeron did not think it merited a response.

"Do you require our assistance in handling Jaleila?" inquired Amyr to fill the void.

"I will take care of her. My men are well-trained too, although they were remiss in their duties this morning." He looked down at the corpse at his feet. "I should have been less trusting of the palace guard that was too eager to give Neria their allegiance. The lot of them will have to be replaced by men loyal to me and not to the coin our enemies slip into their pockets." Roehan shook his head. "I should have foreseen some retaliation after the celebration last night. None of those council members would approve of my elevation to prince consort, so I am not surprised one of them sought to harm my daughter."

"Perhaps Queen Neria should have removed the remaining council members permanently," suggested Taeron, "instead of allowing them the freedom to subvert your guards and return to their estates to gather an army." Thinking of all that they had allowed to happen to Dijana, Taeron wanted to coat his own blade with their blood.

Roehan's lips flattened grimly. "That was my solution, but Neria reminded me that she rules with the council of elders, and if she kills her opponents on the council, then she is no better than Balak."

Taeron was glad that he did not have the weight of ruling on his shoulders. While on Varoonya, he had governed with a heavy hand, but it had been necessary during the chaos left in the aftermath of the war. He was more comfortable with dispensing law with his sword, so he was glad that he would not have to return to the bureaucratic nightmare of reordering Varoonya. Trey had reminded him that one day he would rule Dagmaeus where most of his interactions with his people would not be at the point of his sword. Watching the emperor day after day in the short time he spent with him before his departure, observing his interactions with the imperials as well as ambassadors from worlds tied to the Calabrian empire made Taeron's gut wrench as if he had eaten cooked flesh.

"After I knock a few heads together, I think the royal guard can safeguard the palace, but I would appreciate if you could send some men to patrol the countryside," Roehan told Taeron although he sensed Dijana's father was galled to have to ask him for assistance.

"Prince Amyr will arrange for it," Taeron told the queen's consort. After his night with Dijana, he needed rest.

Amyr bowed his head to Roehan. "I will accompany the men myself." The other man gave him an assessing look that conveyed his lack of confidence before he turned abruptly and walked away.

When he had gone, Amyr blew out his breath. "Do you know how hard it is to be you, Taeron?"

Taeron blew out his own breath. "As hard as it is to be you?"

Amyr laughed and clapped him on the back. "I was never very good at being my father's son. His lessons in diplomacy put me to sleep."

"My sword is the only diplomat I trust," mumbled Taeron as he grasped the hilt in his hand. Instead of the familiar stones of his father's house, he felt the gems of the sword the emperor had given him. This was his future and he would have to adjust to it after spending all his life preparing to guard the man who had become his own personal guard. If the emperor had confidence in him, then Taeron needed to have confidence in himself.

"I need rest," he finally said. "Report to me later."

Taeron started to walk away, but Amyr said, "Thank you."

He looked over his shoulder at him, his brows raised in question.

"For trusting me when Roehan did not."

"You will officially be recognized as my imperial guard, Amyr, once we have returned to Calabria, but I see as such now." With that he continued on his way to his chamber and was joined before he reached it by two of Darlac's men who remained at the door to stand guard after he had gone inside.

Although he had much to think about, Taeron laid down on his bed without removing his clothing because he was too exhausted to concentrate. He did not trouble his thoughts with assassins or rebellions, but relaxed with the memory of how he had spent the night in his mate's arms. If Amyr had not all but pulled him away from his female and forced him to drink his medicine shortly after second sunrise, he would still be there.

He smiled as he remembered Dijana's reaction to Amyr's intrusion into their most private moments. After Taeron had drank the mug of medicine, Dijana had seized it from his hand and launched it adroitly at Amyr's head. Amyr had deserved it after making a comment on her riding prowess. But his arrival had signaled an end to their time together, and as he dressed, she had fallen asleep among the tangled bedding. The medicine had done its job, and yet he still wanted to return to her side, but Amyr pulled him out the door where his imperial guard was met with swords. Not so many months ago Taeron would have had to save Amyr, but after their training and his new confidence, Amyr had used his sword effectively despite the surprise attack.

Late in the afternoon he awoke to find that Amyr had not yet returned from patrol, so Taeron went in search of his brothers. He was about to step into the garden when he heard Stryfe's voice in the retelling of a story that Taeron knew well. Before entering the garden, he listened for several moments to his brother's narrative, realizing why the emperor enjoyed his scribe's reports. While Stryfe's voice was pleasant enough, he added dramatic flair that made the retelling entertaining. No matter how many times he heard the story of Prince Trey and imperial guard Arora, of how their love had spanned galaxies before the gods finally brought them together, Taeron did not tire of it. If aught would happen to Lady Arora, Taeron knew the emperor would not outlive her long. Their love and their lives were tied forever. Taeron understood their love now more than he ever had because he was in love with Dijana and could imagine his life without her.

Stepping into the garden, he found both Jeshed and Stryfe surrounded by beautiful young women who were listening in rapt attention to the story.

"Ah, my brother has arrived!" Stryfe left the story unfinished and the females, as well as Jeshed, moaned in disappointment. "Later, my lovelies!" He gave one of the females a pat on the backside and they hurried away with giggles, but when Jeshed started to follow them, Taeron seized his arm and hauled him back.

Jeshed frowned at him. "The pretty female with pale hair promised to show me something I would find interesting."

Stryfe chuckled. "I am sure that she did."

Taeron looked at Jeshed sternly. "Females are of a mercurial nature, Jeshed. I have learned that they are pleased, yet displeased by a male's knowledge in mating."

"I suppose Dijana questioned you about your tutors," remarked Stryfe with a knowing smile.

"Because Queen Neria took it upon herself to pry into every facet of my existence while she was at the imperial court. She told Dijana that she should be grateful to the many females that contributed to my education," Taeron told him. "I distracted her, yet I fear the subject will surface again." He looked at Jeshed. "If you feel that you have found your mate, then why would you wish to dally with another female?"

Color rose to Jeshed's cheeks. "I did not know..." He blinked several times in confusion. "Is that why she put her hand on my …?"

Stryfe burst into laughter. "Were you not listening to Queen Neria's instruction? Shall we visit her and ask her to be more detailed?"

Taeron shook his head when it looked as though Jeshed would agree. "Stay away from females, especially that one, and when my … our mother takes you aside to describe mating, pretend that you have not heard it already. Choose to listen to her or not, but do not let her know if you are not because that will only invite her to give you further instruction." He did not envy Jeshed that discussion, not after having had it more than once.

"Are you ready to compose a ballad?" asked Stryfe with amusement.

Until a few moments ago, he had not been, but now he smiled at his brother. "I am more than ready."

"Indeed? Do you have yet another skill, my gods' blessed brother?"

Taeron had never raised his voice in song except for the occasional ditties that he had joined in with the imperial guards when on campaign on Teralon or Varoonya. He was sure he could carry a tune, but he knew too few, so he suggested one of the songs he did know.

Stryfe frowned at him. "You do realize that you are to be proving your love, don't you? I don't think a song about the myriad ways you can slay your opponents will achieve that goal."

"I know the melody," Taeron insisted with a frown. "I meant to change the words."

His brother was still skeptical. "And if you forget the new words and resort to singing of decapitations?"

"I would be amused," remarked Jeshed.

Taeron laughed and put his arm around Jeshed's shoulders. "See! If you will not help me, Jeshed and I will compose the ballad."

His other brother guffawed. "I was going to teach you something simple from Earth, but I cannot pass up the opportunity to see you fall on your face just once." He rose and indicated the stone bench he had vacated. "You and Jeshed can spend the rest of the day proving how little the two of you know and I will get some rest or find that fetching brunette that amused me last night."

Taeron watched Stryfe walk away with a frown, and then he looked at Jeshed who looked eager to help. "I have some ideas," he told him.

He wasn't just a warrior! He had grown up around Trey and Arora's feet and watched Shamara fall in love with Prince Dagan. He had two sets of parents that were deeply in love, so he could certainly compose a song for the woman he loved. But most of the afternoon had gone by with only a few lines set to the tune, and Taeron was afraid he was going to have to resort to singing about hacking off limbs.

Darlac returned from patrol as Taeron was practicing what little they had accomplished, and he listened patiently before telling him that Amyr had not yet returned with the men, that they had come across rebels to the south. After his report, he suggested asking the other imperial warriors for assistance in his task. Taeron would have dismissed the idea because he did not want to appear less than confident before them, but he remembered Darlac once telling him that he should not hesitate to accept help from his subordinates. So Taeron and Jeshed went with Darlac to the barracks that had been assigned to the Calabrian imperial warriors that remained in Nidum.

The men were openly surprised by his visit because Taeron had delegated his command responsibilities to Amyr since his injury. Although Taeron had spent many days and nights with the men, fighting, eating and sleeping during the Varoonyan campaign, they seemed uneasy and he noticed their frequent glances at the sword he carried in the open at his side that marked him the lord prince commander. He did not like the distance that had come between them, so he ignored it and when he explained what he needed of them, they stared at him in silence for a moment with wide eyes as if he had grown another head, then one of the men in the back snorted with laughter and a few others tried to cover their own with coughs. Taeron frowned and they immediately fell silent.

That was not what he wanted from them, so he explained that while his mate's father had insisted on the courtship ritual, Taeron wanted to court his female, to make known his love for her. He expected them to laugh outright at his admission, but they shifted uncomfortably, glancing at each other as if they did not know how to react to hearing their warlord admit to having a romantic soul. A few uncomfortable moments of silence followed, then Taeron went ahead to tell them exactly what he had already accomplished with his brother. One of the men suggested changing some words, another wanted a different melody and soon all of the men were making suggestions.

The warriors who had gone out with Amyr returned early in the evening, dirty and sweaty, exhausted, yet exhilarated after putting down an insurrection south of the city. They could not hide their shocked surprise to find a barracks full of men singing a song no warrior would sing marching to battle, but when they learned the reason, they eagerly joined in. By the time he left the men, Taeron was confident that the song he would sing for Dijana would not embarrass him. If his voice did not carry well, he could do nothing about that.

Amyr had gone ahead to report to the queen that Ayrael had gathered a small force of Balak's men that had survived the fighting and had been in hiding. Ayrael had thought it a good idea to attack while Roehan was busy with Jaleila and Taeron wondered if Jaleila even knew that Ayrael had used her failed attempt at assassination to cover for her own plans. Taeron was happy that Amyr had acquitted himself so well in commanding the men to defeat the rebels.

When he entered his chamber with Jeshed, Amyr had just finished bathing and Taeron noticed Stryfe writing on a parchment. "You did well," he told Amyr.

Although Taeron sensed Amyr's pleasure from his compliment, Amyr shrugged as he snatched up one of Taeron's finest tunics, the one he had worn to the banquet the previous evening. Seeing Taeron's frown, he laughed. "You weren't planning on wearing it tonight, were you? Scribe, what was my lord prince doing this afternoon while I wielded his sword in his name?"

Stryfe did not look up from his work. "Lord Prince Taeron spent the afternoon writing verses to win the love of his father by marriage, the love of his mate already having been secured thoroughly between first and second sunrise and several hours thereafter."

"You did not write that?" demanded Taeron with annoyance.

His brother snickered. "I cannot withhold details from the emperor."

"Perhaps you would like to stay in the room and watch so that you can be more accurate?" he suggested wryly.

Amyr rubbed his head. "I would not recommend it. I am lucky she was throwing a cup and not a chakram. My head was aching all day."

Taeron knew he was exaggerating because Amyr would not spend a moment he did not have to with an ache or pain since he could efficiently heal himself.

"So, Jeshed, has our brother composed a ballad fit for the courtship?" asked Stryfe who had not stopped writing. Taeron knew he was describing the battle, had probably spoken to several of the men upon their return and then pestered Amyr with questions whilst he bathed.

"Indeed! We spent much of the day with the imperial warriors composing a ballad that cannot fail to impress."

"With the warriors?" Both Amyr and Stryfe burst into laughter.

Taeron ignored them as he tried to find a garment that Amyr had not ruined. His mother had packed away several for him to wear at the royal court with the warning that she did not have time to be replacing his tunics and could he please not ruin them with blood, especially not his own. He supposed that was her way of telling him to be careful. Since he had already ruined one in his fight with Kai and then another when he had reopened his stitches, he was left with no choice but to accept clean clothing from Darlac, so he slipped on the plain black tunic and leggings, but he declined the head wrap.

"Fitting," remarked Amyr with a snort when he saw him pulling on long boots to complete his warrior attire. He looked at Stryfe. "I wager that he forgets to replace that lovely part in the song about eviscerating his enemies with the long blade of his imperial sword."

"I wonder whether Princess Dijana will be distracted by mention of his imperial sword."

The two men laughed and Taeron was hard pressed not to join them although he noted that Jeshed seemed confused when Darlac indicated with a gesture to what Stryfe had been referring. Jeshed still seemed a little confused, but Taeron wasn't going to explain it more explicitly. Queen Neria must have been very detailed about the female side of mating practices, leaving Jeshed with more questions than answers.

Taeron and his personal suite were seated at their own table among the other males as the females that were being courted sat with Neria and her consort at a long table at the end of the hall. He could imagine nothing worse than sitting among the dozen females that chattered incessantly, and by the annoyed look on his face, Prince Consort Roehan would rather be elsewhere. Taeron tried to ignore the queen's beckoning wave when he arrived with Darlac, Amyr, Jeshed and Stryfe, but when he was about to sit, he felt a respectful touch on his arms and he turned to see Chaela with her head bowed.

"My lord prince, Queen Neria wishes to have a word with you."

Sighing, he headed to the table with his men, and as he weaved through the tables, he noted that Dijana's other suitors sat together at a table as if they were opposing forces that had become allies to vanquish a common foe. They watched him closely as he made his way to the head table, and he noted that they spoke to each other while staring at him. Taeron doubted they made any harmful plans, but he felt a prickle of apprehension since the elder, Deryn, had not yet made his move.

Coming to the head table, he saw that Dijana was resting her chin in her hand, her eyes half-closed and he wondered if she had gotten much rest that day. He wanted to catch her eye, to smile reassuringly at her, but she was seated next to her father and he moved so that she was out of his line of sight. Although she was visibly exhausted, the other females at the table paled beside her golden beauty and Taeron wondered what had happened to the waif with whom he had fallen in love. Her golden hair fell just past her shoulders, and her long lashes were tipped with the same gold which he unfortunately noticed she got from her father when he leaned forward and fixed Taeron with a glare. A quick, warrior's perusal of the room affirmed his suspicions that many of the males were looking at his mate as well and he felt a moment's unease. He was bonded to her; she was not bonded to him.

"Relax," Amyr whispered in his ear. "She is wondering when she can handle the lord prince's sword again."

They came to the queen before he could reprimand Amyr, both for the remark and for prying into Dijana's thoughts. He bowed low to Neria.

"I wish to commend your imperial guard for the service he did for me today," Neria told him before looking at Amyr. "Sometimes the weight of expectation is heavy on our shoulders, and sometimes we cannot carry that weight. But because of who we are, we fail to accept the help of others and the weight crushes us." Taeron knew as well as Amyr that she was referring to the debacle of six years ago when his offensive had failed and led to his own enslavement as well as the losses of many Calabrians. "Prince Amyr, today you have accounted yourself well in the service of your warlord prince."

Taeron's heart filled with pride for Amyr who glanced at him before bowing to the queen. He hoped that Stryfe would recount the event for the emperor who would be very pleased to hear of his son's success. "I thank you, gracious queen."

Having done her duty as queen, she became a mother and leveled her gaze on Taeron. "I look forward to hearing you sing to my daughter."

"I am not," grumbled Roehan.

Darlac had told him that Roehan's men faced little resistance in their attack on Jaleila's fortress to the west, that the vast majority of Jaleila's men quickly surrendered and pledged service to their lawful queen. Jaleila's disgrace and her collusion with Balak was widely known so there was little sympathy for the old woman whose head had been displayed by Roehan on the end of his staff as he arrived back at the royal city. Taeron had never heard of the emperor doing such a thing during his years of rebellion, but the Teralonians seemed to be fond of decapitations. The councilor's body and head were burned in the city square after being properly prepared and Queen Neria stood in attendance, giving the woman honors in her death that she did not deserve. Neria had shown herself to be both ruthless and forgiving that day.

Ayrael did not fare as well. Amyr had brought her back in chains, and when she tried to attack Neria, the queen had efficiently disposed of her with the blades of her chakrams. Taeron guessed that while he was composing verses to music usually sung with words of butchery, Neria was hacking Ayrael to pieces. Neither Neria nor her husband seemed affected by the insurrections of the day, but he supposed they had many years to plan their return and had expected them. Neria used more restraint than Taeron would have after what had been done to her for so many years.

"I hope you will please my daughter," Neria said slyly with a sidelong smile at Dijana who had covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned.

How was he supposed to respond to that? "I will do my best."

"See that you do." Neria turned to look at her daughter. "Dijana! Greet your suitor!"

Dijana straightened. "He is not my suitor. He is my mate."

"He is your suitor until I say otherwise," growled Roehan. He fixed Taeron with a warning glare. "I have not heard any vows spoken. Indeed, I have only heard of written vows broken and shored up only by the will of the gods."

Taeron checked the urge to smile at Dijana's irritation. By the look on Roehan's face, the man was not in a mood after all that had happened that day to listen to his daughter argue. Taeron gave Dijana a flourishing bow that would have delighted his mother after her many efforts to teach him to observe the courtesies to females imposed upon the Calabrians at Trey's court.

"Good evening, my lord prince," Dijana said, her voice husky as she met his gaze.

Her father glared at her so Taeron murmured a quick greeting and followed his men to a table where they ignored the fruit and nuts offered to partake in the meal which was provided by Darlac's men that night. The Teralonian's viewed the Calabrian table with mixed reactions as the dark warriors waited on their commanders, and the few who were able to see what they were eating did not hide their disgust. Stryfe moved around the fruit and nuts, then sighed when he did not find any cooked flesh.

"I don't know who is worse, you bug-eating Calabrians or these fruit and nut eating birds." He flagged down a serving woman to pour him some wine. "At least the nectar wine is delightful."

"You drink too much," Taeron scolded him. He noticed that Jeshed had made a pile before him of fruits, nuts and beetles. His shape-shifting brother seemed to enjoy eating everything, and he wondered if he had ever eaten a human during his time as a dragon.

Jeshed stopped munching on a handful of whatever he had shoved in his mouth – he had not gotten the polite mechanics of eating quite right yet, but that was another thing Larya would enjoy instructing him on – and he looked at Taeron. "I have not eaten any two-legged creatures. There was a four-legged beast on Norvana that once rose on its two legs to challenge me in my dragon form, and it swatted my nose with its paw. So I ate it. It was not as tasty as I thought it would be."

Amyr laughed. "I would like to be there when you tell Lady Larya such stories."

His mother would probably enjoy hearing Jeshed talk about his dragon form. When Taeron was a small boy, on those occasions when Trey allowed him time with his mother, she would lay down with him at night and tell him wondrous tales that she had heard from traveling story-tellers. She was the first one to tell him the story of the lost prince, and after she had, he saw his adopted parents in a new light. He wondered if they even knew how much his mother admired them, despite the many things she had done to keep them apart.

The meal soon came to an end and the males began the second phase of their courtship ritual. One after another they approached the table where Neria and Roehan sat with the women who were being formally courted. He would prove his song worthy now, and if the female showed her appreciation, he would perform it outside her window while keeping himself aloft with his wings. Taeron wondered aloud if that meant their sleep would be disturbed by a cacophony of singing males during the night.

Amyr leaned toward Taeron. "Do you suppose that after they sing outside their window that the females invite them inside to show their worthiness more intimately?"

"My brother has already done that," chortled Stryfe. Taeron noticed that the half-dozen males seemed to be led by two strong contenders that Taeron knew were Neria's personal guard. They had their heads together and where speaking furiously with glances at his table. Taeron knew they had heard Stryfe's comment.

"You drink too much," Taeron scolded him.

Stryfe frowned at him. "It helps me sleep. Do you think I enjoy remembering everything I see and hear?"

Since there were many memories of what he had done on Teralon and Varoonya that Taeron was glad faded with time, he could not argue. "Then watch your tongue."

His brother did not speak again as they listened to the men who sang to their chosen females with varying degrees of skill. Taeron was afraid that his brothers would make scathing remarks when males sang so wretchedly that the sound was worse than a canyon beast's mating roar. Gods, during their mating season it had been impossible to sleep in the Edgeland Fortress. The Teralonian females who were treated to such an abhorrent lack of talent still smiled dreamily at their chosen males. Taeron thought the courting ritual was ridiculous when the mates had already decided on each other, but he supposed there was some reason the Teralonians subjected each other to such humiliation. Would he sound like a canyon beast? He mentally shrugged. He would sing, and if his voice cracked or pained the ears, he did not care because he was doing it for Dijana.

The suitors for Princess Dijana stepped forward after all the other males had finished, and Taeron left the table to join them although he noticed Amyr and Stryfe exchange an amused glance. They would be talking about this event for many years, probably telling Taeron's children what a fool he had made of himself, but Taeron would gladly humiliate himself to give the courtship to Dijana that she deserved.

The reason that the other suitors for her hand had sat together became apparent as the first man began a song extolling her virtues that the next male continued and the song carried on and on, the flattery excessive. The voices were weak to begin with, but as each man stepped in to continue they grew better until first Guillem, then Valter awed the men and women gathered by their deep, clear voices. Even Taeron thought they were pleasant to listen to, and he glanced at Dijana to see her smiling at the winged warriors before she thanked them all for their efforts at the conclusion. That was quite the performance to follow!

The men moved away with smug smirks at him, but Taeron ignored them as he turned to face the queen. "I cannot hope to equal their effort," he told her.

"No, you cannot," she agreed with a sigh.

"They have put into song my own feelings about Princess Dijana." He glanced at Dijana whose brows were drawn together, no doubt thinking he was not going to honor her with a song.

"So you will not sing?" asked Roehan with a pleased smile he made no effort to hide.

"Princess Dijana already knows my feelings for her," Taeron told them. "So I shall sing to you a ballad that my men and I have prepared to tell you of the greatest Calabrian story of love."

He waited for a moment, sensing movement behind him and he knew that the warriors had come into the hall, so he began to sing the story that had shaped his heart. To the tune of a warrior's chant, he sang the story of a young prince that had dared to love where he should not, who had paid for his audacity by having the part of his soul that held his love for her torn away, of how that prince had been carried away by the gods. He sang of the emptiness of the prince's soul until the gods had reunited him with his beloved, and she had helped him regain what had been taken away. His voice told of the aguish of their separation and the bliss of their reunion, and while he did not have an instrument, the warriors hummed for him, but he knew the melody well.

During the song, he dared not look anywhere but at Dijana, and he could see that she listened carefully to the song, and when she started blinking he forced himself to continue although he wondered if he was doing so poorly that she was ashamed. But as he continued to sing, pouring his own feeling for her into the song of love, tears began to roll down her cheeks, and when he sang the last word, the entire hall was silent but for sniffling.

Now he glanced away from Dijana who was wiping her tears and he saw that Chaela's face was wet and that Queen Neria was crying onto her husband's shoulder. Gods damn! Was he that terrible?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Stryfe, but his brother was not laughing. "By the gods brother," his voice was cracked with emotion. "You have been blessed."

"Indeed, my lord prince, I did not expect a man who lives by the sword to do what you have just done," Queen Neria raised her head and swiped at her eyes. "I had never heard the truth of that story, Prince Taeron. You have honored us with your gods' blessed voice this evening. I thank you."

Her mate glowered, but did not remark.

Taeron bowed to the royal family, and after a last look at Dijana, knowing that he would not be able to climb to her windows that night if Roehan's look was any indication, he moved among the tables, conscious of the amazed stares of the Teralonians. Did they think he only hacked men to pieces? Of course they did because that was all he had done on this gods' cursed planet. That was why Roehan did not want his daughter to be his mate and actively worked against him. Perhaps he had proven to them that Calabrians were not just blood-thirsty warriors.

Amyr was not at the table, and Darlac nodded to the doors to the garden, and Taeron frowned as he headed out of the hall in that direction. He found Amyr sitting alone deep in the garden, staring up at the moon, and when he heard his footsteps, he turned his head and Taeron saw that he had been crying.

"You too?" he asked with a short laugh.

"By the gods, Taeron, what you did was beautiful. I have never thought of my parents as a man and woman in love, and while I know what they suffered to be together, I never imagined how it must have felt to them. Your song made me feel their pain and their joy."

"They continue to suffer," Taeron told him, remembering what he had overheard when they had argued about Amyr. "Your father's rule would be easier without your mother at his side, but he could not live without her."

"I know what they say," murmured Amyr as he looked up at the moon again. "It is easier to ignore their insults and their accusations than to face them. My mother is kind and sweet and gentle and fierce. My grandfather was a bastard for naming her a whore and putting her in the Wastelands because the imperials have not and never will forget."

"Your grandfather did not do that to her," Taeron reminded him. "He would not have hurt his beloved children, but Camridaeus took his life from him. Dax was a Guerani whose only fault was that he could not protect those he loved from the creature within him."

Amyr was silent for a moment, and then he turned his head to look past Taeron.

Taeron turned to see Chaela approaching. When she reached him, she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you, Taeron," she sobbed against him. "You have honored our house this night."

He kissed the top of her head. "You honor me with you praise, princess."

Chaela looked at Amyr. "I felt your sorrow, Amyr."

"I have shamed the love my mother and father have for each other with my actions."

Chaela moved away from Taeron and went to her brother. She put her arms around him and brought his head down so that their foreheads touched. "We have both shamed them, brother, but it is not too late to redeem ourselves."

Amyr laughed bitterly. "Perhaps not for you, Chaela, but father has rejected me."

"He is only a man who makes mistakes like other men and he regrets what he did," Taeron told him. "You have given him reason to be proud, and when we return to Calabria, you will learn for yourself what I already know. He loves you and he is ashamed that he let others poison his heart."

Amyr raised his head and smiled sadly at Taeron. "You should have been his son."

Taeron laughed. "I am his son, did you forget? You and I share our fathers."

When Amyr held out his hand, Taeron took it. "You have always been the brother of my heart, Taeron."

Taeron squeezed his hand. "You will always be mine."

And yet he felt his heart ache as if he had forgotten something important, but the feeling was so fleeting that he could not quite grasp it. So he shrugged off the odd feeling and encompassed Chaela and Amyr in his embrace.


	50. Chapter 50 The courtship ends

**Chapter 50**

The following morning, Dijana woke with a sense of anticipation because she was going to see Taeron again in the afternoon doing what he did best. Well, there were other things he did very well, but those things were only for Dijana to know about. The previous evening, after Taeron left the banquet, her father informed her that her window would be guarded from that lecherous Calabrian so that he did not try to climb up to sing to her as the other males had done. Chaela laughed when Dijana slammed the shutters on her window when Guillem and Valter along with the chorus of flunkies appeared to sing their song to her privately. There was only one man whose voice she wanted to hear, and while his singing voice was beautiful, she wanted to hear the things he murmured in her ear when they were alone together in her bed. The thought of any of those cretins her father had chosen to court her doing the same made her shudder with revulsion.

Her mother insisted that she take her first meal with her in her chambers, so after dressing with care, choosing the green and gold gown she had worn to present her case to the council, she went to her mother's chamber with Chaela. She was earlier than usual, but she was hoping to have a chance to see Taeron before he prepared for the tournament that was to be held in the city plaza. Dijana knew that her mother had planned it that way to prove her strength to the people, as if she needed to do that after disposing of two former council members in quick succession the previous day.

Guillem and Valter were not standing guard outside her mother's chamber for which Dijana was thankful. The two oafs could not possibly believe she would be tempted from her mate by them, and her father was demented if he thought his plan would work. He had made quite clear that he was displeased with the agreement her mother had crafted to obtain the help of the emperor to rout Balak. When he believed that Dijana was Nyko's daughter, he had been willing to send her off to marry a man he thought of as a brutal butcher, to live among primitive people that did not respect and revere females as they did on Teralon. Now that he knew the truth, he was adamantly against the match, and she had heard her parents argue frequently about her marriage.

This morning was no different. She reached to open the door, but she could hear voices raised inside, and she paused to consider her options. She could leave and return in a few moments when the argument would have subsided or she could enter and become involved in their argument with whatever she had to say being ignored by both of them.

Chaela gave her a third option. She leaned forward to listen, and while Dijana would not consider spying on her parent's private conversations, she suspected that Chaela had done this very thing on Calabria. After hearing the story of the emperor's love for Chaela's mother, Dijana now found it difficult to imagine the stories Chaela told her. Now Dijana watched Chaela press her ear to the door and she would not have done so had her friend not waved her forward.

"... and if he manages to foil your plan? Have you seen him fight, Roehan? What will you do then?"

"No, Neria, I have not seen him fight. I am beginning to think he is naught but a legend. He has a glib tongue and a gods' blessed voice, and I have heard plenty of his prowess, but I have seen no evidence of it." Her father's voice was angry, as usual, when he spoke about Taeron.

"Were you not watching when he disposed of Balak?" Her mother was disgusted. Dijana realized that her mother liked Taeron despite all the disparaging comments she made about him. When Dijana had approached the council, her mother had browbeat them into accepting Taeron so she never really had a chance to have her voice heard. In that instance, her mother knew what was best for her.

"Yes, Neria, I was watching as he murdered the man I wanted to rip to pieces for you."

"Lord Prince Taeron took care of that problem quite efficiently. You know that we would have had to capture Balak and take him before the council, the council he had whittled down to his supporters, for judgment." Her mother sounded vexxed with her mate. "Do as you will, Roehan, but know that I am displeased. The Calabrian will make a fool of your warriors, hence a fool of you."

"I think not." They heard footsteps and Chaela seized Dijana's arm to pull her back several feet just before the door opened and her father appeared.

His features were stonily angry, and he looked surprised to see Dijana standing near the chamber. Dijana was so intimidated by the giant warrior that she could not even speak. The emperor's daughter was not so constrained.

"We have come to break our fast. Are you not joining us today, my lord prince?"

He narrowed his gaze on Chaela. Her friend was not only Calabrian, but she was also Guerani and her father did not trust her. "I have important matters to deal with." Roehan paused beside Dijana, and he put his hand beneath her chin to raise her face so that he could meet her gaze. "You are the most precious thing in my life, Dijana." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then moved past them to continue down the hall.

"Your father is sweet," commented Chaela. "He is very handsome, as well."

Dijana wondered what her mother would think if she had heard Chaela's comment. She seemed to be jealously possessive of her mate.

When they entered the chamber, they found Neria pacing, wearing a dressing robe that was finer than any garment Dijana had, including the one she wore now. Her mother stopped to look at her, her lovely brows arched, then drew together. "Do you not have something nicer to wear? After lord prince Taeron defeats your suitors in a public display of his godly skill, you shall exchange vows with him and that shall be an end of your father's interference."

Dijana looked down at her gown. When Balak had dragged her before the council several weeks ago it had ill fit, but now it molded pleasantly to her curves, curves she had not had not so many weeks ago.

"Well, you are lovely in the rag, but we shall have to provide a better trousseau for your trip to Calabria. We Teralonians are not so poor that we cannot array our own princess." Dijana opened her mouth to respond, but Neria continued on in her usual one-sided conversation. "And once you are on Calabria, Lady Larya will see to your raiment. You have noticed Lord Taeron's garments? She created them with her own hands."

Dijana took a breath to speak, but it was unnecessary.

"When I am forced to leave you behind, I will not be so anxious for you, knowing that you will be with your lord husband's mother."

Dijana glanced at Chaela and saw that she was smiling with amusement.

"She is very proud of her son, and rightly so. When I tell her about his courtship, she will be ecstatic to know that he acquitted himself so well."

A short knock at the door preceded the entry of the serving women with the meal that they set at the table that was arranged for four people. The morning tea was served first to the queen who all but gulped it down, waving for a second cup even before Dijana and Chaela could be served.

Since she had her mouth full of tea, Chaela spoke. "Gracious lady, are you in ill spirits this morning?"

She swallowed the tea. "I am sure you know half of the reason." She gave a pointed look at Chaela. "You must have discerned, in your magical way, why I am annoyed with my mate."

"I listened at the door," Chaela told her with a smile. "I did not need to use my Guerani power. But I can tell you, from my Guerani senses, that your mate is anxious for his daughter's safety, and it makes his heart ache."

The cup making its ascent to Neria's lips again paused in midair.

"He does not dislike Lord Taeron," Chaela told her. "He hates all Calabrians because he sees us as a blood-thirsty race. Even the story Taeron told last night is rife with the worst of my father's people, but he will not overcome his prejudice until he comes to Calabria."

Neria frowned at her. "Are you telling me that Calabrians are not blood-thirsty?"

"There are many who are more comfortable with a sword in hand, but there are many more that I believed of that ilk in the hall last night accompanying my lord prince when he sang his ballad. The scribe told me that the warriors helped Lord Taeron compose the song." Chaela smiled. "I shall enjoy teasing every one of them."

The queen shook her head. "I was on Calabria. Men came at your lord prince on several occasions with swords in the very halls of the imperial palace."

"And my brother dispatched men in the halls of your palace yesterday," countered Chaela.

Neria sniffed. "That is an entirely different matter."

"Is it?" Chaela raised a brow.

Dijana envied Chaela's ability to argue with her mother. Then again, she was the imperial second princess and she had always played that role well on Teralon. Now she had effectively silenced her mother.

They ate without speaking for several moments, and then her mother remarked, "You have little to say, Dijana. Your comportment is akin to a shadow."

Chaela opened her mouth to respond, but Neria waved her quiet. "I would hear my daughter speak."

Dijana took her eyes from her now empty cup of tea and looked at her mother. "Balak did not allow me to speak at the table. When I was a child, I asked him many questions because that was the only time of the day that I saw him, but he trained me to remain silent at the table."

For a moment Neria did not respond, but Dijana could see by the pulse in her neck that she had become agitated. "Did...did he...?"

Her mother could not even put to words what had been a part of Dijana's life. "He beat me," she confirmed. "With his own hands. He broke my wings once, but the council reprimanded him severely for doing so."

Neria pushed herself from the table and moved quickly away, and Chaela reached out to take Dijana's hand. Somehow her friend conveyed to her the deep sadness and regret her mother felt at abandoning her. But Dijana could hardly feel sympathy for a woman that would leave any child to the gentle care of Balak after what he had done to her before imprisoning her in the northern palace. Balak's beatings had been a part of her life since she could remember so she expected no different. She had assumed that Avar and Sharisse received beatings as well, but now that she knew the truth, she was sure that they had been treated far differently as Balak's children. Balak had thought her the daughter of Nykos, but if he had known the truth, that she was a bastard, he would not have stopped at breaking her wings.

"I suppose Roehan knows what happened to you," murmured Neria, her voice raw with emotion.

"He does," Chaela answered her.

Neria glanced at her with a frown. "Does anything escape you, Guerani sorceress?"

Chaela did not seem bothered. "I overheard him questioning the servants."

"You are an effective spy."

"I grew up in the imperial palace," Chaela reminded her with a shrug. "I know where to find out information."

Neria returned to her breakfast. "I will not insult you by apologizing, Dijana. I was younger than you are now when you were born. Nykos and Balak were brutal men who beat and raped me. I tried to care for you as an infant, I tried to..." She fell silent for several moments and then she said. "I was afraid, Dijana, so very afraid that he would kill me."

No one knew that kind of fear better than Dijana. She had complied with Kai for so many days out of a desire to live, and in the end she wished he had killed her.

"Your father wants back the years he was denied," Chaela told Dijana. "He doesn't want to give you up to the man that took away his only chance to take the vengeance that has rooted in his heart."

"Then Roehan is a fool!" snapped Neria. "If he had killed Balak, the council would have ordered his execution. We are better off that the Calabrian lord prince did it for us."

"What is my father planning to do to Prince Taeron?" asked Dijana. She should not fear for Taeron's safety, but she could not help it. If her father was so set against her marriage to him, he would be desperate to prevent it.

Neria sighed with exasperation. "If I tell you, you will warn the lord prince and I will show myself disloyal to my mate." She shook her head. "I cannot do that to Roehan. If his plan fails, then it will be the will of the gods."

Fury exploded in Dijana. "Out of one side of your mouth you regret what happened to me while out the other you refuse to help me!"

"You have quite a temper," remarked her mother calmly. She was assessing Dijana over her cup of tea, and then she shook her head. "No, I will not betray Roehan."

Reaching for her own cup, Dijana planned to throw it, but Chaela seized her wrist and Dijana tried to fight her calming touch and failed. "Do not worry about Taeron," Chaela told her. "You have never seen him fight as I have. He had to prove himself worthy to become Amyr's imperial guard and you cannot imagine what he had to do. There is nothing your father can think of to equal what my father forced Taeron to endure to gain his position. There is no warrior his equal."

Blowing out her breath, Dijana rose. "You will have to excuse me, mother. I no longer have an appetite." Not waiting for her permission, she stalked to the door, her skirt swirling around her legs with her long strides almost tangling her and rendering her exit more humiliating than righteous.

The last thing she heard before slamming the double doors was her mother remark, "She has much to learn about the comportment of a princess."

Dijana headed towards the steps that curved along the wall down the tower, but her way was blocked by winged warriors who crossed their long spears to prevent her from passing. One of them told her that she could not leave the royal residence without an armed escort and there were no men available to escort her. She stomped back to her room, furious to be thwarted, and even Chaela's serene presence did not calm her.

"We are prisoners again!" she declared hotly.

Chaela shrugged. "I am used to this kind of imprisonment. There is another council member who has a reason to harm your parents and he can do that quite effectively by harming you. Jaleila sent assassins to your chamber, not to your parents which proves that females are far more intelligent than the males. I do not know what Deryn has in mind, but you cannot believe that he is accepting his banishment with benevolent acceptance."

"Jaleila was trying to kill me?" asked Dijana in horror. Chaela had told her what happened in the corridor, but the servants had been cleaning outside her parents' chambers, not her own and when she pointed that out, Chaela laughed.

"Amyr battled them down the hall so that the noise would not disturb your sleep."

Remembering his overbold remarks about what he had witnessed when arriving in her chamber yesterday morning, Dijana was annoyed by what she should have considered solicitous behavior. Was that yet another statement about what she had been doing with his lord prince all night? And it had been all night. She tried not to think too much about their night together because she knew that Chaela had not mastered blocking the feelings and thoughts of others, and she knew by the other woman's knowing smile that she was failing miserably.

Exasperated, she tried to take her mind off of the only thing she wanted to think about. "Is my gown a rag?"

"Certainly not!" Chaela laughed. "Unless you are judging by your mother's standards. But she is right about Lady Larya. She made my mother a gown to celebrate twenty years of marriage to my father and it was magnificent. I think the imperials hated her even more for it – well, both of them because they do not like Lady Larya either."

Dijana frowned. "They do not like my lord husband's mother?"

"Lady Larya was a shameless whore who wrapped many of the males of the great houses around her little finger under the orders of Emperor Zeno's courtesan, Xuxa. She tried her hardest to seduce my father and the last time she tried was after attempting to stab my mother."

Those were facts not reported for public consumption or Dijana would have read of it in her extensive research on Lord Taeron. "The emperor forgave her?"

Chaela laughed. "Hardly. He banished her to the pirate satellite where he probably thought they would use her up and kill her." Seeing Dijana's shock that Emperor Trey could do something so ruthless she explained. "He could have had her executed, but he gave her this small chance. She used it to her advantage, and I am sure you know what happened next. I don't think my father or my mother have ever regretted their decision to allow her to live. They have become very dear friends."

When the suns were at equal distance in the sky, a warrior came to escort them to the grand plaza in the middle of the city. The courting males were dressed finely so that they could show themselves off to their best advantage as they displayed their skill at fighting. Her father accused Calabrians of being blood-thirsty, but Dijana noted that the men and women gathered to watch were enthralled by the warriors that executed their best moves in the sky and on the ground for the approval of their chosen female. Since the other females had no other male vying for them, they watched with rapt attention, and when their males finished, they stepped forward and offered their hand with a pledge of union. On the morrow they would all exchange vows in the Queen's Grotto.

The thought of exchanging vows with Taeron in the grotto made Dijana uncomfortably anxious, enough so that Chaela looked at her. The grotto was an extension of the palace garden, constructed long ago with stone arches to which flowery vines clung. Beneath the many arches were statues of the females that had ruled Teralon, their wings spread, many statues centuries old but made of stone that had not crumbled in time. As a small child Dijana had stood under her mother's statue, marveling at her beauty, the beauty with which Sharisse had been blessed, and she asked the unyielding stone why she had abandoned her. She had stopped when she was old enough to realize that her mother had not wanted her, that she was probably ashamed of her ugly daughter. As if to mock her, Balak had commissioned a statue of her to join the others in the grotto, and the artists had still been working on it when the Varoonyan forces attacked.

The secret entrance into the palace was through the grotto.

Dijana had shown Kai the way in, convinced of his love, certain that he was going to keep her safe. She had been so stupid to trust him.

"Do not think about the past," Chaela told her as she entwined her fingers with Dijana's. She nodded to the plaza where her suitors had gathered. Taeron was wearing the same black garment he had worn the night before that matched many of the warriors who had come to Teralon with the imperial guards that dressed in dark gray and crimson. Chaela explained to her that Taeron was an honored member of a zenoite clan on the second moon where his father governed. Zenoites, she learned, were the people that opposed the rule of Emperor Trey because he had not killed his father. They had fought in open rebellion for nearly a decade before the emperor had prevailed and they accepted banishment to the moon where they would live according to their customs but under the governance of the emperor's imperial guard.

"Would the emperor be angered to know that Prince Taeron honors them by dressing in their custom?" asked Dijana. She thought she knew everything there was to know about Lord Taeron and Calabria, but she realized that she knew only what outsiders were allowed to know.

"I do not know," said Chaela. "Darlac and his men have earned the respect of the empire by fighting alongside the imperials under Taeron's command, but Darlac's father did something that my father considers unforgivable. Amyr told me that he was angry that they had come into his presence with Taeron when he returned from Norvana."

Dijana tried not to think about the intricacies of imperial politics because she was frightened by the role she would have to assume as the warlord prince's wife at the imperial court. Instead she drank in the sight of her mate who towered over the winged warriors now taking up wooden staves with blunted ends with which they would fight until one man was standing. She was annoyed to see her father speaking to Guillem and Valter, probably giving them instructions to defeat the Calabrian.

Taeron did not even glance back at the many Calabrian warriors who had come to watch him fight and as they spoke to each other animatedly, Dijana was reminded of the time the handful of Calabrians had watched her challenge Taeron on Norvana. Her cheeks burned at the memory, knowing how foolish she must have appeared to them, daring to instruct the greatest warrior in the binary system. The Calabrians were betting, not on the outcome, but on how long it would take for Lord Prince Taeron to dispatch his rivals.

The fight was not fair to begin with, since the winged warriors made no attempt to fight each other in the melee combat. And Dijana worried that Taeron could not fight with the staff when she had only seen him wield a two-handed sword. To make matters worse, the winged warriors took flight so that they could dive down in their attacks. Guillem and Valter stayed aloft as the other four males relentlessly attacked Taeron. They were probably planning to swoop down in tandem when the others had tired out their opponent.

If her father hoped to humiliate her Calabrian suitor, he was disappointed because Taeron showed himself more than equal to the task. He parried the attacks effortlessly, using the staff one minute like a staff and the next a sword, but his movements were fluid and quick, his footing sure and graceful. He twisted and turned, his long hair flowing out behind him, again and again, like a dancer, and as Dijana watched his body move, she thought about her body moving with his, rising to him, her fingers gripping his hair.

She gasped with pleasure as he leaped into the air and smacked one of the warriors to the ground, spinning immediately to catch one that had come up behind him, tripping him up by weaving his staff between his legs. And when he fell on his back, the warrior lost his grip on his own staff and Taeron flipped over him, seizing the staff that had bounced from his grip. Armed with two of the weapons meant to be handled by two hands, Taeron launched himself in the air to Guillem and Valter who could not move fast enough to escape. They barely evaded the blows Taeron had aimed for their heads, and when he missed, he flipped in midair and twisted to face them as he descended back down to the plaza. The men he had defeated should have honorably left the plaza, but they charged Taeron in spite of the hissing of the crowd. For their efforts, Taeron gave them blows that sent them unconscious to the ground.

Dijana dragged her gaze from the spectacle to look at her father, knowing that he had instructed the men to ignore the polite rules of the contest in the effort to rid himself of the bridegroom that he did not want for his daughter. She did not need to say anything because she could see, if not hear – praise the gods – her mother scolding him for his dishonorable tactics. He shrugged her off as if he were the brutal Calabrian, and he signaled to others to join in the fight.

Gasping, Dijana saw a score of winged warriors take flight and descend upon the plaza along with Guillem and Valter.

"By the gods!" cried Dijana frantically, half-rising only to be pulled back down by Chaela. "They will kill him!"

"They will have to send more than that to harm Taeron," Chaela told her. "Do you see the imperials? They are not moving to help him, are they?"

Dijana wanted to shout at Prince Amyr to help his lord who was swinging two staffs amidst so many winged warriors that she lost sight of him. But Amyr was laughing at something Darlac said and she wished she could throw something at him. She even looked around to see if there was anything launchable but had to settle with promising herself to do it when he least expected an attack.

As Chaela predicted, Taeron was more than equal to the task her father had given him. He quickly culled the warriors, knocking them senseless with his incredible power and speed, and a quick glance at her father told Dijana that he was awed by her Calabrian suitor.

But when Dijana turned to look back at the thinning fight, she noticed the sky in the east darkening and she cried out when she realized that hundreds of winged warriors were approaching. How could her father do such a thing? Dijana was outraged until she realized that Roehan was shouting for his men, and by the screams of the men and women as they fell over each other to get away from the plaza, Dijana realized they had come under attack. There was chaos then as the forces swarmed the plaza, and Dijana tried to see Taeron, but Chaela was pulling her away.

A warrior landed in front of her and he thrust out with his short sword, but Chaela pulled Dijana out of the way so quickly that she stumbled, but she turned in time to see Chaela kick the warrior hard between the legs before jamming her own dagger up his chin to the hilt before shoving him off the blade to fall back lifeless. All around her there were swords striking swords, bolts fired from above and the unmistakable whistle of chakrams flying in their deadly paths towards their targets.

"We have to get to safety," Chaela told Dijana. She saw her mother fighting beside Roehan, both bleeding, her mother from a cut on her arm and her father from a bolt lodged in his thigh. Dijana wanted to stay and help, to do something, but she knew she was worthless in a fight, so she hurried with Chaela towards the palace.

But they could see winged warriors landing on the roof where they would gain access to the royal apartments, so Chaela changed directions towards the garden and Dijana knew they would hurry to the secret passage out of the city. When Dijana balked as they reached the grotto, Chaela assured her that they would soon return. The passage would take them to the caves in the mountains where the royal family had remained throughout the Varoonyan occupation.

Holding Chaela's hand, Dijana had difficulty keeping up with her imperial guard who ignored the vines and thorns of the exotic flowers slapping at them as they raced through the neglected, overgrown garden. By the time they reached the grotto, Dijana's heart felt as if it would explode, and she was gasping for breath when Chaela paused to get her bearings.

They had stopped only a moment before Chaela dragged Dijana to the large statue of wings over small fountain. Chaela released Dijana and leaped into the pool to grasp the statue in the middle of the pool, and twisting it, she engaged the mechanism that made a tile drop and slide to the side, revealing steps. The entrance should have been dark, but it was lit with torches and Chaela realized immediately that the tunnel had been breached. She leaped with her imperial speed to stand before Dijana with her dagger raised and her arm stretched out before her.

Bright light exploded around them and Dijana gasped when bolts flew towards them, only to dissolve and disappear in the light. Dozens of warriors poured out of the entrance until finally a woman stepped out of the tunnel.

Dijana would not have recognized the female warrior if a man did not step out behind her. Wearing a metal breastplate and holding a sword she looked every bit as fierce as Dijana's mother, and the resemblance she bore to Deryn marked her as his daughter. She jingled as she walked and Dijana could see that she was armed with chakrams, and when she came before Chaela, she put up her hand to the light surrounding her.

"Do not touch it," advised Deryn. He looked at Dijana with contempt. "So you would hide behind this sorcery? You cannot do so forever."

Dijana did not have a chance to retort, because, as usual, her own mother could not let her speak.

"She can remain where she is long enough for me to dispose of you."

Dijana saw her mother in the air, Roehan at her side with several other warriors and dozens of imperial soldiers spilling into the grotto.

Deryn's face contorted in mask of rage. "Kill that vile whore," he ordered his daughter, and as she leaped into the air to confront Neria, Deryn ordered his men to attack the warriors on the ground before leaping into the air to charge Roehan. Dijana did not see Taeron among his men, but Prince Amyr rushed forward with his sword swinging in deadly arcs, moving rapidly to where Dijana was trapped inside Chaela's protective sphere. When he reached them, Amyr slipped through the light and seized his sister's hand.

"It took you long enough to get here," she complained breathlessly and for the first time Dijana realized that Chaela was pale.

Her brother noticed at the same time. "You have done well, Chaela, but you have been weakened. Release the power and I will keep us safe."

"Where is Taeron?" asked Dijana fearfully as she watched the carnage in the grotto escalate. The winged warriors were fighting for their lives and falling under the swords of the Calabrian warriors. Looking up, she gasped in shock as her mother fought Deryn's winged daughter. They flung their chakrams at each other, twisting and turning to avoid the sharp edges of the deadly blades. Deryn had been a formidable warrior and had taught his daughter well. Neria was cut twice, but she ignored her injuries to fling her weapons and when she was out of chakrams she screamed with rage and dived at the other woman. When the two females came together, they ripped at each other with their long talons.

Dijana saw her father fighting three warriors with his staff, spinning it, slicing flesh, but he was so intent on his fight that he would not be able to stop Deryn who dived at him with his sword outthrust to end his life. Dijana cried out in horror, but before the Deryn could skewer her father, a long sword flew end over end until it embedded in the center of the warrior's chest all the way to the hilt that was decorated with jewels that glittered in the sunlight.

When she saw Taeron leap into the air to jerk his sword free to leave the body to fall to the flagstones of the garden, Dijana cried out in relief.

Amyr chuckled and looked over his shoulder, keeping his arms outstretched to maintain the protective light around them. "You did not worry about my lord prince did you?" When she glared at him, he laughed again. "Don't hit me, princess, or I might waver."

"Don't joke," murmured Chaela weakly as she leaned against Dijana.

The lord prince of Calabria had brought the black clad warriors with him into the grotto and the fight did not last long. Neria had managed to fell her opponent with a two handed blow to the face and the woman fell from high in the sky onto her back on the stones of the grotto where her head slammed so hard that her skull cracked open to ooze blood and brain matter. Deryn lay nearby, living long enough to see the Calabrians put an end to his rebellion.

Neria landed near Deryn who lay in a pool of his own blood. She scarcely spared him a glance as she hurried to the protective shield which Amyr lowered for her to pull Dijana into her embrace. She was sobbing with relief and Dijana soon found herself enveloped in two sets of wings as her bleeding parents held her between them.

"Bastard!" Deryn's rasping shout made Neria step back to look at the dying old warrior.

Although blood poured from the bolt that was still lodged in his leg, Roehan strode to where he lay. "You did this!" he accused. "All along, you were pulling Balak's strings!"

Deryn coughed weakly. "You are not as stupid as I thought, Roehan. I intended all along for my daughter to be queen, and so I did not remove her wings. It was very difficult to hide her for all these years, training her to take the place she deserved. Neria's mother was weak and foolish; there were so many plots to end her line that I had but to wait for the dust to settle before it was my turn to try."

"You were going to kill Balak," predicted Neria.

"Balak removed your supporters on the council." Deryn laughed, then coughed up more blood. "I offered to back him with my warriors when he finally chose to strike, so he did whatever I suggested."

Roehan's lips twisted in disgust. "They were noticeably absent from the battle."

The dying man laughed again. "I wish I could have been there when the brainless idiot realized I had betrayed him." He turned his head to look at Dijana. "You should have died that day when I sent Avar to tear off your wings."

Neria gasped with outrage and lunged at Deryn, but Roehan caught her and held her back. "You despicable traitor! Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I wanted her dead. I knew what she was and I despised her for it." He sneered at Neria. "I suggested to Balak to kill Nykos, and I followed you that night when you went to rut with your baseborn lover. I knew very quickly after her birth what she was."

"You could have told Balak and he would have done as you wanted" pointed out Roehan as he stood over Deryn, his body shaking with rage. "Why did you wait?"

"It amused me to see him constrained to keeping her alive, knowing as I did that she was the bastard of a palace guard." Deryn laughed bitterly, the sound little more than a wheeze. "I invited Prince Rangyor to invade, to send his warlord to seduce that worthless, ugly bastard, and I convinced that idiot Balak that it was his idea. When I discovered that vile creature Kai left Dijana alive, I told Avar that she would be unfit to rule without her wings." His bloody lips parted in a sickening smile. "The fool believed me, and I watched him do it, but he made a mess of it and before I could finish it, Kaseja had taken over her care and saved her pitiful life."

"I have heard enough." Neria looked at her husband. "Do you wish to end his life? Will that satisfy your need for vengeance? It will not satisfy mine, but I know now that nothing can."

Dijana felt a strong arm around her shoulders and she knew instinctively that it was her mate. Turning, she buried her face into his chest and when he put his arms around her, she burst into tears. She could smell blood and sweat and death everywhere, and she could not bear to watch Deryn writhing in agony in his last moments, his breathing rattled and labored as Roehan stood over him to watch him die.

"Take my daughter from this place of death," she heard her father say.

Taeron lifted her and she clung to him with her arms around his neck, keeping her face pressed against him although he was soaked with blood. She started to feel dizzy, and soon the angry voices and the cries of agony faded away to darkness and silence.


	51. Chapter 51 Leaving Teralon behind

**Chapter 51**

Two weeks had passed since Taeron had returned Dijana to the palace accompanied by his warriors who easily routed the rebels. He had taken Dijana to her chamber and laid her gently on her bed and then sat on the edge holding her limp hand in his own calloused and bloody hand. She had not regained consciousness by the time her parents arrived back at the castle. Her father barked at him to leave his daughter to their care and Taeron bristled with the urge to retaliate, but Amyr had accompanied them and suggested that she would be startled to awaken to find him splattered with blood. She had not reacted well the last time, so Taeron allowed Amyr to escort – drag – him from her bedside when Taeron sensed he would not see her again for some time, if ever given Roehan's reaction to him.

And so two weeks passed in which Taeron had been denied access to Dijana with excuses that she needed time to recover, excuses delivered by servants. Even Chaela had been kept from her side and she was as anxious as Taeron about the sister of her heart. But Chaela received a message from the queen granting her permission to attend her daughter, and while Taeron wished she had done the same for him, he was at least glad that Chaela could be with Dijana.

Taeron understood the need her mother and father felt to protect her, but he was sure she needed him to heal the sorrow of her heart. His own felt raw after hearing how little Dijana's life meant to the very people that should have been protecting her since the moment of her birth. He had once resented being called a bastard, and the sneers of the imperial nobility had never ceased to aggravate him, but he realized how petty he had been when Dijana had suffered Balak's and Deryn's torture without even knowing why. Dijana's anguish made him ache, and yet there was nothing he could do to help her when he was kept from her.

Now he stood before the open windows of his chamber, ignoring the sounds behind him of the men removing his things to be taken to the transports to the north. Neria had called him for an audience the previous day to inform him that his continued presence undermined the authority of her prince consort. What would Trey do in this circumstance? Taeron doubted it would be to regroup his forces and attack Roehan's bedraggled squadrons of winged warriors so that he could take his beloved mate. So he agreed to do as Neria asked and returned to his chambers where he informed his commanders of his decision. He could remain on Teralon no longer when he had yet to deliver Andwar to his assignment on Varoonya before returning to Calabria to settle matters with Crown Prince Staefyn. Trey had ordered him to bring stability back to Teralon and now that he had, there was no reason to remain. He sent Graegor, Andwar and Darlac to the men stationed to the south, east and west to inform them that they would evacuate immediately to the transports waiting at the northern palace.

This morning he had requested an audience with the queen and when he expected to ask Neria for permission to take Dijana with him, he was irritated to find Roehan waiting in the audience chamber instead of the queen. Taeron did not dare to hope that he was grateful to him for having saved his life since he had not thus far, so he was not disappointed to have his request denied, cut off before he could complete his carefully worded speech. He wanted to warn the winged warrior that the emperor would be displeased by the ingratitude of Teralon. He wanted to remind Roehan that his winged warriors were no match for the imperials, that he could take Dijana at will without his consent. His men would be pleased to act against the prince consort when they felt not just slighted, but insulted that the females who had been courted exchanged vows with their suitors a few days after the battle and their lord prince was not among them to wed his mate.

But Taeron told Roehan that he understood even though part of him did not. With a heavy heart, he left his mate's father and returned to instruct his commanders to warn the men not to retaliate even though almost all knew what it was to be bonded to a female and that his life would be difficult without her. Taeron's life would be difficult because he loved Dijana, but it was that love that enabled him to leave her behind. When she was healed, he convinced himself that she would come to Calabria to be with him. She loved him. He was as certain of that as he was of his love for her.

Shortly before he was ready to march out through the northern gate, he received a message from Chaela to meet her in the queen's grotto. Amyr accompanied him along with ever present Stryfe who would not miss a chance to record every agonizing detail of Taeron's suffering. Taeron might have resented him for it if he did not want Trey to know how the Teralonian royals had rebuffed his commander. Since he could not trust Jeshed around Chaela, he ordered him to lead the men who had remained behind to guard their lord prince outside the city walls to wait for him.

Entering the grotto, Taeron marveled at the beauty and serenity when not so very long ago there had been violence and death. As well as trimming back the overgrown shrubs and vines, leaving beautiful flowers to flourish, the servants had managed to clean away all evidence of the battle, leaving not so much as a stain where Deryn had died in a pool of his own blood. As Amyr and Stryfe remained near the arched entrance, he walked through the gauntlet of statues of winged females, and when he came to the last one that stood near a young version of Neria that reminded him eerily of Sharisse, he stopped to look at the unfinished statue. The artist had completed all but the face and Taeron stared at the winged female that he had never known, the Dijana who would one day rule Teralon, wings outstretched behind her. Her once long hair flowed over one shoulder to her waist and he reached out to the stone, knowing in his heart this would be the closest he would get to touching her again.

"I know why it was never completed now."

Hearing Dijana's voice, he blinked up at the blank face of the statue for a moment before turning around. She stood with Chaela at her side and her parents behind her, her father's hand on her shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Guillem and Valter had landed on two high arches nearby. What did Roehan think he would do? As Taeron looked at Dijana's pale face, he knew what he wanted to do. He was a Calabrian, after all, so it would not surprise them if he seized her and tossed her over his shoulder to carry away. But that would strain relations with Teralon and probably start a war that would decimate Teralon. Trey would not like it after all the trouble the planet had given him already. And Dijana did not look as if she would be a willing captive.

She did not look at Taeron as she stared at the empty face of the statue. "I was excited when Deryn ordered Balak to commission the artist to carve my statue," she said softly, her voice resigned. "But he never meant for me to rule, so they did not chisel my face. Balak planned to add Sharisse's face and Deryn planned to add his daughter's. I was never more than an obstacle to them all."

Her parents did not offer her any argument although her father's hand gently stroked her shoulder and she closed her eyes for a moment, accepting his comfort. Taeron felt a moment of breathless pain in his chest because he wanted to be the man easing her pain.

"The gods have something else in mind for you," Taeron told her. "You will be an imperial princess of Calabria."

For a moment she did not respond and then she said, "I am sorry, Taeron, for what I have done to you, but I cannot be for you what you want."

"You are already what I want, Dijana," he told her softly, taking a step towards her and noting that her father's shoulders rolled with the effort he made not to unfurl his wings. He saw that Guillem and Valter had stirred restlessly where they perched and Amyr had moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. Taeron did not want Dijana to witness more bloodshed.

She shook her head and then looked up at his face. "Your mating bond makes you say these things."

"Is that what they tell you?" Despite his resolve, Taeron could not help the anger that crept into his voice.

"You never would have done it had I not be-spelled you when you allowed me to take your blood," she continued without responding to his accusation.

He reached out to touch her, but Roehan's wings flew out and Taeron took a step back as the queen's guards left their perch to hover close enough to attack. Amyr had half-drawn his sword before Taeron frowned at him and Stryfe put his hand over his wrist. Taeron was confident that the prince consort would not attack him, and he was even more confident that he could disable him without killing him. The queen was biting her lip in uncharacteristic silence so Taeron knew she was deferring to her husband. Taeron wondered if he had lost his mind in wishing she would start berating someone for leaving her daughter without her mate, but he could see that Roehan had effectively shut her down.

Taeron looked at Dijana, hating the unhappiness he saw. "I loved you long before you took my blood." He had loved her from the first moment he looked into her eyes when she stumbled onto his ship.

"You are close enough to the frontier now," she said softly. "My mother has contacted Norvana and made arrangements with the healer, Carrinda. She will be waiting near Varoonya to remove your mating bond."

"Why would I do that?" he demanded, anger coursing through his veins as he trembled with panic at losing her. "You are my mate!"

"Taeron!" Chaela's soft warning did little to ease him and he saw Amyr leave his place by the entrance to approach.

Dijana had not reacted to his outburst. "If you love me as you say you do, Taeron, you will do this for me. I cannot bear knowing that I have entrapped you."

His heart seemed to stop beating as he realized that he must do as she asked. "Nothing will change, Dijana. I love you."

She turned to give Chaela a sad, teary smile and then nodded to her father who slipped an arm around her waist and Taeron watched in frustration as he shot into the air and flew with her in the direction of the palace tower.

Neria had remained behind. "I am mindful of my obligation to Calabria," she told Taeron who did not look at her until he could no longer see Dijana.

"You have a strange way of showing it," he snapped bitterly.

"Dijana would have this no other way and my daughter is stubborn."

Taeron had a good idea where she had gotten that character trait.

"Roehan believes he can have a battalion ready to serve the emperor within a moon's cycle," she continued. "You may inform him of the circumstances of our delay, so I am sure that he will understand." Taeron doubted it when Trey had been consistent in proving he could not fathom, nor could he forgive, female inconstancy. Taeron wished he did not understand him at this moment.

"You are certain there are no other threats?" Taeron did not give a gods' damn if there were any threats because he could not leave Teralon fast enough now.

Neria seemed to understand his shift in mood. "If there are, Roehan can handle them."

"Did you know what Deryn had planned?" If she admitted to it, he would be hard-pressed not to strike her for subjecting Dijana to the former councilor's vitriol.

"Deryn hid his ambitions well, but the fact that Balak did not kill him along with Kaseja and Garest was telling. He never brought his daughter to Nidum, never offered her for courtship, so all assumed she bore some defect." She sighed deeply. "He had vied for my grandmother's hand, but no one guessed he resented not being her choice. He had been a loyal warrior, and when he could no longer fight, there was overwhelming support to his appointment to the council. We will never know for certainty, but my guess is that he and Olwyn plotted together after my father rejected her."

If Neria's mother had chosen Deryn, Olwyn would have had the man she wished and none of the subsequent horrors would have occurred. Trey would consider that justification for his own feelings regarding females and the foolish decisions they made.

"We have nothing more to say then." He bowed to her curtly, glad at least to see the last of Neria. "I will give the emperor my report and you may count yourself fortunate if the scribe does not embellish his accounts with the emotion I will use when I tell him what happened on Teralon." Nothing good had ever happened for him on this dung covered planet – not the first time he was here and lost his honor and certainly not now when his heart had been crushed in his chest.

He looked at Chaela. "You will take care of Dijana."

Her gaze went to Neria and the queen pursed her lips for a moment before saying, "My husband insists that she return with you to Calabria. There is nothing for her here."

Before he could react with the fury he felt at their callous disregard of Chaela and Dijana's friendship, Chaela put her hand on his arm. The cooling waves of calm did little to ease his anger, but it was enough to keep him from acting foolishly now. He barely realized that his hand was on the hilt of his sword or that Guillem had landed a pace behind his queen while Valter remained ready to act, quills in his hand.

"Taeron, I would like to remain with Dijana, but for now I wish to return to my family."

Taeron saw Amyr's troubled look and knew that she was not being completely honest, but he could not gainsay Neria and Roehan in this matter. If they wanted Calabria gone from Teralon, then he would comply.

He forced a smile to his lips. "Your parents will be happy to have you back." Her father would be furious at the circumstances, and both her parents would be devastated by the news of their grandson's death. Sending Chaela back was probably the smartest thing they could do after Trey learned of Avar's heinous treatment of the second princess.

There was nothing more to say, so Neria spread out her wings and after a regretful look, she took off in the same direction after her husband with Guillem and Valter behind her.

In the long march north, Taeron did not allow anyone to comfort him, and when Amyr offered him the medicine that would make the separation from his mate bearable, he refused to take it, knocking it out of Amyr's hand. He ignored Amyr when he warned him of the consequences because he did not care. Taeron welcomed the physical pain and weakness of his body because it mirrored what he felt in his heart and soul. When they took off from Teralon, he marked the event by vomiting on himself and losing consciousness, and when he awoke to find himself in his cabin, he did not even have the strength to rise.

The days that followed were blurred by pain and weakness. Taeron drifted in and out of consciousness, and during a rare moment of lucidity, he awoke briefly to find that he was tied down to his bed. Amyr sported a bruise on his face that he could have healed but decided to leave it to prove to Taeron what he had to endure for him. Amyr muttered about warning Lady Trynity of the side affects of prolonged use of the medicine. She would probably appreciate receiving what she called 'data' for her research.

By the time they reached the rendezvous point and found the ship from Norvana waiting, the agony of his physical pain made it impossible for him to do anything but lie flat on his bed even with the healing Chaela and Amyr attempted on him. He did not know when Carrinda came aboard the Calabrian transport, but he awoke suddenly, feeling as though a bucket of ice water had been thrown on him. Gasping for air, he saw the beautiful healer beside his bed smiling, her eyes half-closed as they met his in open invitation. Taeron could not help the sudden reaction of his body, a reaction that he had not had to another woman but Dijana for many months. But when she reached out a hand to touch him, Amyr growled and his imperial guard seized her wrist and yanked her away from the bed.

"You have been paid for your services already. Return to your ship."

Carrinda pouted and leaned toward Amyr who jerked away without hiding his revulsion. "Prince Amyr, you disappoint me. After all that I did to help you, you have turned around and put yourself in the same predicament."

"It is not a predicament," he retorted.

"I can take it away, my lord prince, and perhaps the three of us can find a pleasant way to spend a few hours together."

"You disgust me. Consider yourself lucky that we do not force you out an airlock for your betrayal."

She laughed softly as she moved to go past him to the door Amyr had opened showing men waiting in the corridor to escort her from the ship. But she stopped to face Amyr. "Your Guerani powers have grown stronger." She reached up to stroke his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "I would reward you greatly if you would share them with me."

He seized her wrist, and after roughly shoving her into the corridor to the men who grasped her arms, he closed the door but they could hear her laughter as the men took her away.

"The ancestors did not like her," Amyr muttered under his breath as he went to Taeron and undid the bonds that held him to the bed, the bed in which he had expected to spend the trip back to Calabria with Dijana.

After a moment he said aloud, "I am sorry, Taeron."

"Sorry? For what?" Resentment crept into his voice. "You did not want me to bond with her in the first place! Well, that is over, Amyr. You need not worry that you will be bothered with that drudge's presence now!"

Amyr reached out to touch him, but Taeron wanted the pain that made his heart ache so he avoided him. "I am sorry because I know how this feels, as if a part of you has been torn asunder. You sang about it, remember?" He turned on his heel and left him alone then.

Taeron did sing about it on Teralon but he had never imagined he would feel it. The loneliness, the despair, the emptiness. Nothing remained where his heart had been.

"Well?" Stryfe had not looked up from writing on his parchment when Amyr entered the cabin he shared with the scribe. He thought it strange now that they could be more than civil after those weeks on Norvana when he had spent many hours planning how to make the scribe disappear.

"She is gone," Amyr reported. "I don't think I have ever wanted to do a woman more violence than I wanted to do to her." He shuddered as he recalled the warning cries of the ancestors when she had touched him. What did she mean by sharing their powers with her? Was that even possible?

"You wished, once, to cause great harm to my sister," pointed out Jeshed who was studying his fingernails as if they were an amazing find.

Stryfe raised his head to spear Amyr with a glare and Amyr felt his face heat.

"She infuriated me," he said in lame defense, and then he glared at Jeshed. "I did not harm Quynn. Just because we have evil thoughts from time to time does not mean we intend to act upon them. Perhaps you should keep them to yourself or not intrude upon the thoughts of others in the first place."

Jeshed frowned and raised his hand to his mouth where he began to gnaw at his fingernails.

Stryfe chuckled. "I think that hangnail will keep him distracted for at least a day." His smile faded. "How does Taeron fare?"

"Not well. I sent Chaela to clean him up, but I don't think a washed body and fresh tunic are going to make him feel any less bitter about losing his mate and his bond." No one deserved happiness more than Taeron, and for a few days on Teralon when he was courting Dijana, Amyr believed Taeron was going to get it. Now he doubted Taeron would ever feel anything but the desolation of losing the woman he loved to forces beyond his control.

"Once we have returned to Calabria, he will be able to ease his sorrow," said Stryfe. "He has two fathers that have plenty of experience in dealing with the loss of their beloved, so I think they can help him."

Since Lord Duo had made himself physically sick even though he had not been bonded and Amyr had heard that his father had tried to kill himself, first with vile human medicines and then by blowing himself up in a space contraption that Amyr still could not imagine, he doubted they would be of any help to Taeron, especially with their beloved mates within reach. Amyr had read Roehan well enough to predict he would never allow Dijana to be with Taeron again. He feared the violence in Taeron's life would be too difficult for her to handle. Amyr suspected that Roehan would probably learn that his daughter was not as fragile as she appeared to be at the moment. The fire in her spirit had been momentarily dampened, but Amyr knew it still burned.

Jeshed frowned. "How does a man have more than one father? I thought I understood how Princess Dijana had more than one father, but I do not understand this in conjunction with my brother."

Amyr patiently explained the Calabrian custom pertaining to the birth of children before Stryfe told him the tale of Taeron's birth.

When they had finished, Jeshed said, "Then the emperor must have felt the power of the paladin in his hands the moment of his birth."

"You gave him that power," Amyr told him. "Don't you remember when you were in dragon form and you blew that fire on him?"

The pale man pursed his lips and his forehead wrinkled as he thought and then he said, "I recall the day, and when Taeron entered the trance to protect you, I knew instantly what he was, but I do not remember blowing fire on him."

Amyr was joined by Stryfe in staring at him incredulously. Then Stryfe said, "You did not consciously do that? Amyr, Quynn and Yori told me the same story and you do not remember it?"

"The gods," Amyr murmured in awe. "He has been given holy power as I have been given healing power."

"Does that mean he will lose his holy power if he has been embittered by what happened on Teralon?" wondered Stryfe aloud.

Amyr had never seen Taeron in the mood he had been in before he stopped taking medicine and lost all reason, but he felt sure that the man he had known all his life was still there.

They fell silent, all three of them probably thinking about Taeron, and they were like that when Chaela entered the room. Amyr noticed that Jeshed stirred restlessly whenever his sister was nearby but he assumed it was because his sister was a beautiful woman. He also knew that Jeshed felt deep sympathy for the loss of her child and he was mistaking it for something else. Chaela had the feelings of an older sister for Jeshed. Amyr hated to think that the only way Jeshed would get her out of his system was for Stryfe to introduce him to some of the lovely young women at the palace who would be more than happy to instruct Jeshed in the ways of females. Amyr had thought himself in love with each female that had come to his pillows, at least until another took her place, and after many such occurences, his heart ceased to be involved. If Taeron hadn't scolded him on Teralon, Jeshed would already have fallen in and out of love several times.

"He is resting peacefully."

"In a trance?" asked Stryfe.

"Even if I could take him into a trance, he would not let me touch him," Chaela said. "I left him water to bathe and he told me to leave him alone."

"Then how do you know...?" Amyr raised a brow.

"I seeped his bathing water with Lady Trynity's calming leaves before taking it to him."

"Have you always been this devious?" asked Amyr with a shake of his head.

Chaela shrugged. "You were always too busy annoying our parents to notice. I think Shamara was the only one who did and no one believed her when she tattled."

Amyr laughed. "Poor Shamara! The weight on her shoulders was staggering."

"And the weight on your own has been lifted," Stryfe commented. "Staefyn may be the crown prince, but Taeron has been given all the responsibility. Let's hope my brother can handle it on top of everything else he carries on his back."

Jeshed stood, and avoiding looking at Chaela he announced, "I will sit with my brother."

Chaela watched him go and sighed. "I wish I understood him better. Does he not like me?"

"More than he should," Stryfe remarked when Amyr would have preferred that he not interfere with whatever was or wasn't going on between them.

His sister frowned. "Jeshed is attracted to me?" She seemed truly surprised that any male would want her and Amyr knew it was because of the horrible things Avar had told her during their marriage. He eased his anger now by remembering how Avar had left a trail of blood in the air before his body had smashed into the fields in the valley. Amyr hoped he had not lost consciousness before his body was splattered into the dirt.

"Jeshed is attracted to a beautiful female," Stryfe told her. "Give him a couple of days at the imperial court to glut himself on the beauties there and you will not have to worry about him howling to the moons under your window."

Her brows raised. "You think it is that bad? Howling to the moons?" She seemed too thoughtful to Amyr.

"Do not toy with him, sister," he warned.

"I will not toy with him," she assured him. "I have no interest in seeking the companionship of a male and certainly no interest in a male as naive as Jeshed. He hardly seems older than Ginaesa."

"You will break his heart," predicted Stryfe. "And I, for one, do not want to be around when a dragon breaks his heart."

Taeron slept for two days, and when he awoke, Amyr wondered if he would ever again see the man with whom he had grown up. The optimism that led Taeron to work for his father's approval even when there seemed to be no hope that Lord Duo would acknowledge him was gone. Taeron was reserved, and while he joined in their conversations and did his duty as a commander, even the men he visited in the transport hold remarked on the change in him. The imperials on their ship predictably wanted to turn the transport back to Teralon where they would storm the palace and carry the princess away for their lord prince. Amyr feared they were making plans to do just that when he caught Danlaer in a hushed conversation with the men in the hold. He drew the pilot aside to warn him of the consequences of not maintaining the course to Calabria, so if there had been plans to abduct Princess Dijana, they did not act on them.

As they drew closer to Calabria, Amyr began to anticipate seeing his wife and son again. He had expected her to return to Teralon, but in all the time they remained on the planet, she had not, nor did they pass her transport making the return trip. She must have had a good reason to remain on Dagmaeus and he hoped Yori was not ailing because he could think of no other reason for her not to return to him. When they were together, she would probably laugh about this anxious feeling he had that all was not well, but as Calabria came into view and they drew close enough to see the two moons, Amyr had an ache in his chest that had nothing to do with his eagerness to see his wife. Now he feared for her.

The derelict pirate satellite from which Staefyn had launched his previous attacks came into view, and Taeron entered the command center to take a seat. Amyr could see that he did not want to be there because he expected a battle that would have the ship spinning and flipping to avoid direct hits to the shield, and with Danlaer piloting there was going to be enough movement to empty Taeron's stomach several times before he lost consciousness. But Taeron knew that it was his place to be there and not hiding in shame in his cabin.

But there was no movement from the dark station that looked as lifeless as it always had. Amyr had heard stories that the station was almost like another moon, that in centuries past, Bayman had built the station and then abandoned it when they found little of interest on primitive Calabria. Primitive Calabria had been visited repeatedly by people from nearby planets that made the same types of deals with them that the Cinq Kingdom had in providing them with technology that Calabrians were still too primitive to invent on their own. They had precious, rare minerals with which to barter and in ages past, warriors to provide as mercenaries in exchange for ships and armaments.

The station abandoned by Bayman was soon inhabited by unsavory individuals in the binary system that preyed on ships that had to pass by on their way to Bayman, and those same pirates turned around to sell their spoils in goods or women to Calabria. When they began to prey on Calabria, Amyr's father had put an end to their practices by sending Lord Duo who knew how to render the pirate satellite station uninhabitable after scattering the pirates by offering them a place on the moons as pardoned citizens of the empire or by having them escorted to the frontier. Until Staefyn had recently used the station, it remained dormant.

Just as dormant as it appeared to be now as they passed it and Amyr could see by Taeron's frown that he was perplexed by their unmolested passage. Whatever Taeron was thinking, he did not voice, but he did not look surprised when they were hailed from the planet when the station was behind them.

Danlaer turned his head to look at Taeron. "The transmission originates from Guerani Palace."

"I expected as much," he muttered. He nodded to Danlaer who put the feed on the screen.

Amyr grit his teeth to see his brother sitting on the ornate chair in the receiving hall that had been meant for his father. "Welcome home, brothers! I am sorry if you are disappointed that I did not send a welcoming escort, but I have tired of that particular tactic."

"Because you have failed at it every time," Amyr told him. "Have you run out of gliders to send after us?"

Staefyn's smile unnerved Amyr and he felt as if he were standing in the room with him. "I do not know if I should congratulate you, Amyr, on receiving your powers or if I should console you on losing your position as crown prince."

"I don't need you to do either," he snapped. Why had he never seen the deceitful creature that now looked back at him?

"Chaela is with you. I feel her presence."

Amyr could not feel Staefyn so he was amazed that his brother had become so powerful. "She is returning home."

"Without her little wingless boy." Amyr was infuriated when Staefyn shook his head slowly with what was surely false sympathy. "Father will be devastated when he learns what happened to Kaerwen. Of course, I already knew when he joined the ancestors, just as I will know when you do."

Amyr was going to retort, but Taeron looked at him sharply. "Stop arguing with him. He is demented."

"Demented, Taeron? I can feel the turmoil in your soul from here. What causes it?" He was smiling smugly, but then the smile faded and he seemed disconcerted. "You … you have had your bond severed? How can that be? To what manner of vile sorcery have you submitted yourself?"

"The sorcery of healing," Amyr told him before Taeron could stop him. "He was in pain and that pain was taken from him."

For a moment Staefyn said nothing and Amyr wished he could read his brother's thoughts as easily as Staefyn could his even from that great distance.

Then Staefyn shook his head. "I have something of yours, brother." He raised his hand to motion to the side and Amyr felt as if he had been kicked in the chest when Quynn appeared, dragged to Staefyn's side by a man he did not recognize.

But Taeron did. "Kai!" he hissed furiously.

"Quynn!" Amyr was horrified that his mate was in her hands.

There was a bruise on her cheek and her wavy hair appeared tangled, but there was no mistaking the indomitable look she gave as she raised her head to look at the viewer. "Oh, hey guys! I took a wrong turn and ended up here. That is what you should write, Stryfe, because I don't think the emperor wants to hear that his warriors allowed this Varoonyan bastard onto my ship after he tricked me with a false message from Taeron ordering me to take the wounded back to Calabria without him."

Amyr was starting to feel panic so great that he feared when he might do. "He did not hurt you." She must be able to protect herself with her magic.

Staefyn made a clucking noise. "Her fire burns low, brother. If she wasn't such a cursed stubborn female, she would let it burn out."

The Varoonyan warlord laughed. "Oh, I knew about her fire all along from my friends on Norvana." He grabbed a handful of her hair and Amyr growled with fury when he handled her, but he saw a collar around her neck studded with red gems that glowed. "Her magic is useless. When she tries to use it, the magic is channeled into these gems where it burns her."

He leaned his face close to hers and Amyr saw the gems glow brightly in the collar as she tried to lean away. Her mouth opened as smoke rose from her flesh and she pressed her eyes closed, but he saw the pain and his very soul cried out for her as she became limp and would have collapsed had Staefyn not caught her around the waist and brought her against him.

As Staefyn brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek, he lowered his face to the searing flesh on her neck and suddenly blue-white light flowed from his parted lips and the blistered, damaged skin smoothed out and the bruise on her cheek faded away. She stirred in his arms and as his brother moved his lips to whisper in her ear, Amyr felt as if a wild beast at exploded inside him. He lunged forward, but he suddenly felt his hair seized and his head was shoved ruthlessly forward to smash onto the edge of the control console.


	52. Chapter 52 Quynn's stowaway

**Chapter 52**

"Do you know what he is thinking now?" Quynn did not try to fight the healing pleasure of Staefyn's breath. Without it, she had been in agony from burning herself because she could not control her reaction to the warlord's repulsive touch.

Quynn watched as Amyr lunged towards the viewer and she was not surprised when Taeron seized his hair and knocked him unconscious by slamming his head on the control panel. Ignoring Staefyn's amused smile as he watched his brother sag unconscious to the floor, Quynn laughed, "Hey, brother, that was excellent payback." She wondered if Taeron had it in his mind when he knocked out Amyr.

But when Taeron raised his head and stared straight at the viewer, his dark amethyst eyes seemed unfamiliar to Quynn. "Make your peace with the gods, Staefyn."

"Are you threatening me, lord prince? You cannot act without my father's sanction and he will not give it when he knows you come for my head." Staefyn stared at Taeron with a strange mixture of feelings. Since coming to Guerani Palace as his prisoner, Quynn had found him impossible to understand, and as he stared at Taeron, she thought she could decipher the look on his face now. Did she see regret?

"You overestimate your worth in his eyes," Taeron told him coldly.

"Oh, I think I do not. You have been gone for many weeks, and yet my father has not moved against me. Do you think it would be easy for him to destroy his own son?" He glanced briefly at Quynn before turning his attention back to Taeron. "Quynn has managed to convince me that you are not my father's bastard, but it does not really matter, does it? He claims you because you were born into his hands, and you can usurp my rights because it happened months before my own birth. Why should he not claim you? If two of his sons are Guerani healers, the ancestors will surely claim the third as well. Does it matter whose bastard you are if he can call you son and you have the power to wield the sword that has slain emperors?" Taeron stared at Staefyn silently for several uncomfortable moments until Kai shouldered him out of the way.

"You took something from me, Calabrian dog, and I will not rest until it is mine again." Before Kai could speak any more threats, and Quynn knew he had plenty concerning Taeron, her brother took away the opportunity by cutting the communication link.

"That bastard!" Kai kicked the ornate chair with his booted foot and he spun to look at Quynn who had not moved from the wall. He crossed the room with long strides and she tried not to cringe when he seized her shoulders and he shook her. "How did he do it?" he demanded through gritted teeth. "How did he despoil my Dijana?"

What could she say to the mad Varoonyan? She did not understand his rantings, and she certainly had no answers to his questions.

"Let her go."

The deep voice sent a chill down Quynn's spine although she knew she had no reason to fear the Guerani who faced Kai. In the years that Quynn had been gone, Staefyn had changed. Gone was the young man that she thought possessed a gentle soul, and in his place was a matured man, with hardened features and pitiless eyes that he now fixed on Kai. Those eyes had gone from the mossy green he had from his father to the Guerani golden of his mother from whom he had his considerable power.

"We will talk later," Kai hissed for only her to hear as he released her and stepped away from her to run his hands through his dark hair.

When he looked at her, Staefyn's eyes faded back to green and he looked now more like the emperor, but when he used his magic, Quynn knew he had more of his mother in him, that his magic was stronger by far than Amyr's. She knew little about Guerani, but she could not imagine that he could have grown so powerful in so short a time.

He glanced away and signaled to a woman who came to escort her back to her chamber. As they left, she heard Staefyn snap at Kai. "I told you not to harm Lady Quynn!"

Outside the hall, Quynn stopped to listen to them, glad that Staefyn had sent her with the serving woman, Vaedra, and not the brutal guards that Kai had sent to fetch her from her chamber. The older woman looked exasperated by her behavior, yet she did not force her away from the door.

"And what will you do?" scoffed the warlord. "You need me and my men, sorcerer. Why do you care what I do to her when you can heal her? I have seen that when I hurt her, you are over eager to use your magic, so I am doing what you cannot do, and you enjoy it, so stop protesting. "

Staefyn did not respond and Quynn winced from the dirty feeling she got to know that he enjoyed healing her far too much. Kai might not be goading her into hurting herself with her magic or handling her roughly for Staefyn's sake, but Quynn had seen the pleasure in his eyes when he healed her just as the warlord had.

"What magic has Taeron used to break his bond?" she heard Staefyn ask the Varoonyan. "Where does this magic exist?"

Knowing the answer to the question, Quynn waited only long enough to hear Kai deny any knowledge of such magic. She was sure that Staefyn wanted to break Amyr's bond with her, so she had no intention of telling him about Carrinda. Quynn wondered why Taeron had returned to Norvana to seek Carrinda's aid and she feared what had happened to Dijana after Quynn had been tricked into leaving with the wounded. Taeron had discussed the probable aftermath of their victory with his commanders. He expected retaliation from the factions that had supported Balak, and Quynn could only guess, based on the desolation she had seen in her brother's face and the fact that Carrinda had broken his bond that Dijana had not survived the war on Teralon. Kai would not be pleased to learn of her death.

As she moved away from the hall and followed Vaedra back to her chamber, Quynn thought about the day she had left Teralon. She had not wanted to leave before seeing Amyr, but the messenger that had delivered the order to take the worst of the wounded back to Ulfynaeus told her that the lord prince and his men would not be able to leave Nidum until the palace and city were secured. She had no reason to distrust the man who wore the colors of Neria's warriors. After taking as many of the men as she could onto her ship, she sent the messenger back to inform Taeron that she had complied. Knowing her brother, he would make short work of securing Neria's rule and Amyr would probably be only a few days behind her. That would give her enough time to ask Lady Larya to design her something extra special to dazzle her mate in their bedchamber.

She had discovered Kai among the wounded on the ship on the second day of travel when she had gone to the hold to check on the injured. He had been leeching blood from the wrist of one of the men, and when he heard her gasp of surprise, he raised his head and although she had never seen the beast, she knew exactly who he was. Quynn had been horrified to find him, and the fire she shot at Kai missed him when he leaped at her. She managed to evade him, but when she tried to reach the control room to send a message to Teralon warning them what had happened, he caught up with her and clubbed her over the back of the head. She did not know how long she had been unconscious, but when she awoke, the bejeweled collar was around her neck. The Calabrians that she had taken on the ship to return to her mother's care on Ulfynaeus were gone.

"What did you do to them?" she had demanded furiously although she was tied to one of the command chairs. She was horrified to imagine that he had thrown them out the airlock.

He wet his lips with his tongue and she thought she was going to be sick as she imagined him draining their blood before killing them. His smile was unpleasant. "I feasted upon them, but do not fear, human, I needed to keep them alive. I sold them on the slave market on Endair to earn the credits to buy that collar."

The stones that ringed the collar were uncomfortably warm. "Am I to assume this is some type of device to keep me from using my magic?" Carrinda had told her that such things were to keep magic wielding slaves subdued, but Quynn refused to believe it could stop the power she had developed, and to prove it, she tried to project flames around the Varoonyan warlord. But the stones around her neck flared with such heat that she cried out in pain and nearly lost consciousness. The sickening stench of burning flesh made her gut wrench and she realized it was her own flesh blistering.

Kai had laughed, the sinister sound penetrating her pain. "You can buy much on the frontier markets."

Quynn knew she was going to have to find a way to control her fire or she would be burned to a cinders before they reached wherever they were going. Since she had a great difficulty controlling her impulses, she knew the coming days would be the very definition of hell.

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded when she was able to speak although the flesh around her neck throbbed painfully.

"You were purchased from the Norvanans," he reminded her. "I am delivering you to the buyer."

She had to take several calming breaths to keep from shouting in angry frustration. "What does Prince Staefyn want of me?" she demanded.

The warlord shrugged. "We are not confidantes. He is useful to me at the moment, so I do what I can to keep him satisfied."

"Useful to you?" She narrowed her gaze. "Do you have some grand scheme, my lord?"

He lifted the corner of his lip in scorn. "When I have destroyed Calabria, I will take my armies to this place which spawned your kind. What do you call it? Earth? You humans are a filthy blight upon the universe."

"And you Varoonyans epitomize the natural order," she mocked. "You have to feed on other races just to survive. Have you been feeding off me?" She wondered if his reason for wanting to attack Earth was for the source of food.

There was disgust in his crimson eyes. "Your blood is poison. My Dijana was able to ingest it, but she is just my thrall. Her blood is now polluted and it will take many months to remove the poison of her feedings from that human bastard Taeron."

Quynn almost mocked his stupidity because she knew that Taeron did not have human blood, that he was cursed by his Calabrian mother to the same ill effects every Calabrian suffered. He could not drink spirits and he had been enslaved with a blood bond to his mate, and since Kai admitted to feeding off Calabrians, that was not the reason for the poison in Dijana's blood. Thinking of the golden glow of Taeron's holy magic, she suspected that was the true reason Dijana's blood was toxic to him. Given his revulsion to her magic and his haste in warding against it, she was sure that Kai was at least terrified of magical beings if not vulnerable to them and he had inadvertently revealed weakness to whatever was in Taeron's blood. Unfortunately, Quynn had no way to use that information and no way to contact her brother.

But the thought of the brutish warlord brought low by magic almost made her laugh. "Well, too bad you can't get a snack off me. It's a long trip back to Calabria."

"Even injured Calabrians are worth many times their weight in credits. After purchasing the collar, I still had enough credits remaining to purchase slaves for my use. "

Remembering what Mordrad had paid for the imperials he had purchased when Quynn requested it she knew that Kai had made a tidy sum with the dozen or so injured warriors she had on the ship when she had taken off. She had made a log of who she had been returning and their injuries were not terribly severe, but her mother's warnings about infections and foul conditions that seemed to describe the northern marshlands perfectly had Quynn anxious to return the men to Calabria to be treated by her mother's squad of healers. Most had been mildly poisoned and more than half had complained at having to leave Teralon when they were enjoying themselves in the marshlands. There were too many for Amyr to handle on his own and he would have tried, so when she received the word to leave the planet, she hadn't even wondered why Taeron would send her away without speaking to her. She should have waited to see Amyr, but she had been convinced that he was too busy with his duties as Taeron's imperial guard. Amyr probably thought she was acting impulsively again and he would not know what had become of her and the injured men for a very long time.

By the time they reached Calabria, Kai had used up the slaves he had purchased. After draining them to near death, the loathsome Varoonyan brute released them to space. Although only a couple resembled humans, Quynn knew by their screams and the pleading for their lives that she could understand thanks to the translator that had not been removed that they were sentient creatures who were terrified of death up to the moment that Kai had taken their lives.

As if he wanted to prove his power to her, he brought his victims to the command room and as she watched him, she was horrified to imagine how Dijana must have suffered in this horrible man's power for many weeks until the Calabrians had arrived to liberate Teralon. A long braid of golden hair hung from his belt and she knew without him telling her that it was Dijana's hair. She often saw him stroking the braid, a faraway gleam in his eyes that made Quynn nauseous for Dijana's sake. She understood now how Dijana had fallen prey to her stepfather and siblings, how Kai had made it easy for them to manipulate her.

Once they reached Calabrian space, Quynn was sure that sensor sweeps from the moons would detect her ship, but they would have no reason to suspect anything amiss until they neared Ulfynaeus where she would be expected to leave injured warriors. The disruption in communications through Edgeland Fortress kept Calabria isolated, and when the moon tried to contact her ship, Kai responded by activating the boosters and directing the ship to the surface. Because of his trouble with the emperor, Quynn knew her father would not send any warbirds after the ship because it might be considered an act of aggression. He probably guessed the hyperspace craft had been stolen and yet there was nothing he could do to prevent it from reaching the planet.

The transport landed on a small clearing high in the Guerani Hills. Kai dragged her out of the ship and shoved her to her knees in the dewy grass, holding her down with his heavy hand on her shoulder as if she were some wild animal needing to be subdued. He did not seem to be in a mood for chitchat, and she had exhausted all the subjects that he had a knowledge of, scant few in her opinion, so she stayed silent as she waited. She had seen the top of an elegrant structure over the trees and she knew from the trance she had been in with Amyr, that it was Guerani Palace, the palace that was to have been her home as well as the summer residence of the emperor. Well, she thought with a mental shrug, she was coming home.

"An optimistic way of looking at it."

She turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw Staefyn approaching flanked by several men who glanced warily at Kai. Staefyn's green gaze had flared briefly amber before returning to the soft green she had once thought charming. Now that gaze moved over her body encased in the battle suit and she remembered Amyr's anger when the other men had seen her.

Staefyn's mouth moved in a strange manner as if he were both excited and repulsed by the sight of her, and then he snarled at his men to turn away from her. The mindless Calabrians did as ordered, turning their back and Staefyn strode to her, pulling off his tunic probably to cover her indecent attire and when he ordered Kai to untie her, she did not have a chance to attack him to escape through the densely wooded area surrounding the palace because Staefyn put his hand on her head and she became limp for just a moment before she was in a place she had difficulty recognizing at first.

The sky was dark and she stood before a large window overlooking space. "Where am I?" She thought she was speaking, but her lips did not move as she stared at the black emptiness of space.

"At the beginning." Staefyn's voice was silky smooth but she did not see him as she stared at the void of space.

 _"Hey! Babe, I got your message."_

Quynn turned in the direction of the voice and she was surprised to recognize her father, a very young version of her father, certainly not the Calabrian sword arm of the emperor that made others quake in his shadow as he moved past. A teenager with a disarming smile ambled towards her wearing the uniform of the Cinq Kingdom and she was reminded of Stryfe when he was that age.

 _"I had a bad day,"_ she said although she had no control over the words that left her lips.

 _"I know how to make it much better."_ Her father slipped an arm around her and dragged her close.

She should have been repulsed, but she was erotically moved by his embrace. _"Not here, Duo."_

His lips were against her neck, his teeth grazing sensitive skin that made her shudder. _"Why not? There is no one around."_

Quynn realized what was happening, where Staefyn had taken her in this trance even before she asked her own father, _"Do you have any protection?"_ At least her mother had some foresight, lot of good that had done her.

He pushed her against the thick glass of the window and he made her forget about such mundane matters as birth control. Who knew her father could be so persuasive or that her mother could so easily lose her grasp on common sense.

"Let me go," Quynn begged Staefyn, disgusted by what he was forcing her to witness, to endure as if she were there. In a way, in a matter of moments, she was going to be there.

Before he released her, she saw the wormhole open in the viewing window, heard her mother's pleasured gasp, and then Quynn found herself standing before Staefyn in a room, probably in the palace. She was shocked by his power, appalled by what he had made her experience even though it had not been her experience at all.

She swallowed nervously and ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I think I could have done without that trip down memory lane."

"Memory lane?" he raised his brows in question, then frowned. "Ah, one of your quaint human expressions."

Quynn looked around the large chamber, noticed the seductive pile of pillows that put Amyr's bed to shame in her father's palace, and she turned back to look at Staefyn. "Is this the part where you tell me of your undying love for me and I reciprocate by rolling around in that bed with you?"

"Rolling around in the bed? Why should we do that?" Staefyn pursed his lips in disapproval again. "Do you speak this strange language to my brother and does that idiot understand you?"

"Right on both counts," she said with a shrug. "Well, most of the time the idiot understands me, but sometimes I need to explain. Do I need to phrase my question so that you can understand because I think even your idiot brother would understand what I meant by rolling around in the bed."

Staefyn narrowed his gaze on her. "Are you implying that I am a greater fool than my brother, because truly, no greater fool can possibly exist."

She threw up her hands. "You got me, Staefyn! I was insulting you."

"You have no basis in which to question my intelligence," he told her haughtily.

Quynn blew out her breath in frustration. "What do you want of me?"

He nodded to another door. "There is a bathing chamber. Prepare yourself for me." Turning, he headed to an opposite door.

She raised a brow. "Aren't you expecting a bit much on our first date?"

Staefyn stopped, pivoted and turned to look at her. "To what are you referring now?"

Putting her hands on her hips she said, "You know, courtship. Even Amyr courted me in the manner dictated by your father."

Staefyn snorted derisively. "My father's dictates are ridiculous and unnecessary. When a male wants a female, he takes her and does not beg for her permission." She opened her mouth to argue, but Staefyn did not give her a chance to speak. "What did you see in the trance? Did Lord Duo beg his mate with flowery words? I saw him dominate her."

"Hey, you and I did not see the same thing!" Staefyn could not have felt what Quynn had felt as her mother, and Quynn knew from those feelings that her mother had expected exactly what she got because she had called her father wanting exactly that. If anybody had been dominating, it had been her mother. She was probably not expecting the conception of children, but that was her own fault for forgetting the biological purpose of what they had been doing.

He read her mind. "Does it matter? You are here now because he took what he wanted that day, disregarding his mate's call for prudence."

If Quynn escaped this madman's lair, she intended to have a long talk with her father about his cavalier attitude towards the repercussions of sex and her mother about allowing teasing randy young pilots talk her into life-changing situations. Then again, she would not be there now if they had not thrown caution to the stars.

Staefyn continued. "I have no intention of courting you. I paid for you and you are my female. If you cannot prepare yourself for me, I shall send serving women to do the job."

"Don't bother. I know when I have lost."

He seemed pleased by her capitulation, but he did not speak as he turned on his heel and walked out.


	53. Chapter 53 Welcome to Guerani Palace

**Chapter 53**

After he had gone, Quynn headed to the bathing chamber and she wished she could have heated the tepid water that was warmed with light from the suns that streamed into the chamber from skylights overhead. Without the aid of females that would only annoy her, she washed days of accumulated sweat and filth from her trip from Teralon in which Kai had only allowed her to take care of her personal needs while standing nearby. He had fed her from what he found among the Calabrian's possessions, so she had little choice but to eat the creatures they had harvested from the marshlands. After a few days, she had grown to appreciate the food and understood why the Calabrians had been so delighted by their days in the marshlands even though she suspected the Teralonians avoided them.

When she finished bathing, she wrapped the drying cloth around herself, finding that while she rinsed her hair, some sneaky servant had taken her battle suit and the tunic Staefyn had draped over her. Quynn did not bother dragging her feet to the chamber where she would wait for Staefyn. That would not change her fate. Her training at the academy had taught her when it was prudent to fight and when giving up might mean gaining more time to scheme for escape. Since the Cinq Kingdom had no enemies, she often wondered what those lessons were for, but now she had a good reason to remember them. She was Staefyn's prisoner and he was going to do what he wished, using what methods he wished, and he had already proven that his arsenal was considerable. What other captor could boast to take his prisoner to the moment of her conception? He could certainly do much worse.

Wearing only the collar around her neck and the drying cloth around her naked body, she went to the obscene pile of satiny covered cushions and pillows. Before lying down, she exchanged the drying cloth for the flimsy long robe she found lying over a padded bench. As she tied it, she mused that Amyr would probably enjoy running his hands over the fabric that Quynn knew had come from a frontier world.

At first she lay stiffly waiting, convincing herself that he could do what he wanted to her body, but her heart and soul belonged to Amyr. She had been trained to endure many sorts of torture and although the trainers did not force the cadets to submit to rape, they had completed a virtual simulation that made her feel dirty afterwards. She could only imagine how dirty she would feel after Staefyn finished with her.

By the time Staefyn passed through the door wearing a silky robe that matched her own, she realized that the simulation had not prepared her for the reality of submitting her body. She was shivering and she felt tears burning the back of her eyelids. Amyr had been the only man to touch her and she felt sick and sorrowful that Staefyn would despoil the love she felt for his brother.

When he sank down on the edge of the bed, Staefyn did not look at her for a moment and Quynn wanted to make some clever remark to keep from begging him ignobly not to touch her. But she could not speak and as he sat staring at some point across the room, she began to feel more relaxed and wondered if he had enveloped her with a spell.

Finally he turned his head to look at her. "By the gods," he murmured hoarsely. "You are so beautiful!" She waited, her body tense, but he only looked at her and then heard that his breathing was rapid, laboured and looking at his eyes, saw him pressing his lips together tightly. His eyes snapped shut.

What was he doing? Was he getting up the nerve to touch her? He had purchased her, so she was his slave, and he had given her the impression that he would fully enjoy her whether she wanted it or not. The hand that he raised to touch her was shaking and she nearly jumped in shock when he placed it only briefly on her belly.

Suddenly he stumbled from the bed and he barely made it to the basin that was left for her personal needs. After several moments of heaving, he returned to her, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"You are with child," he observed hoarsely.

She shrugged. "I did not know that would be an issue with you." Where she got the bravado to speak, she did not know when she was trembling uncontrollably. But she thanked the gods for Amyr's lack of self-control if it meant his Guerani brother could not touch her.

"A female."

A wave of calm washed over her and she relaxed enough to meet Staefyn's gaze. If he had done that to her, she could not complain. "That is what the idiot said after he did it, so I guess you have confirmed it."

He took a deep breath, then straightened and strode from the room with a curse on his lips.

Quynn fell back against the pillows to rest deeply for the first time since leaving Teralon, her hand on her belly to thank her unborn daughter for saving her.

The following day a silent serving woman came to her with clean clothing, silky pants that barely reached her hips and a flimsy garment that did not even reach her belly and which was open on the sides. More of her was out of the clingy garment than was in and when she requested something to wear under or over it, the serving woman frowned and told her it was unnecessary. Quynn refused to leave the chamber dressed as she was, so the woman, Vaedra, gave her a wrap to wear over it. She was relieved to be covered as Vaedra led her through the airy corridors of the palace that might have been her home.

They came to a terrace overlooking the mountains and in the distance she could see the glistening ribbon of a river that ran through the Wastelands. She noticed a lovely structure nearby just below the palace and wondered what it was.

Staefyn answered her unspoken question. "The residence for the imperial guard of the crown prince."

He was standing at the edge of the balcony looking out over the breathtaking view. The serving woman snatched the wrap from her shoulders before she could guess her intention and had bowed out before Quynn could stop her. She had little choice but to turn back to the man who probably considered himself her master.

"It is comforting to know that Amyr made some provision for Taeron," she remarked.

"Amyr would not have thought of such a thing" said Staefyn without turning around. "My brother has always been beyond selfish. When plans were being made, he suggested that it was unnecessary, but my father disagreed. He has always loved his imperial guards to a fault."

Staefyn turned to look at Quynn for only a moment, his soft gaze moving over her before he looked away. She could see a mixture of revulsion and pleasure in that brief glance. "I should have realized that sooner or later my father was going to claim Taeron. Perhaps that is why he planned a beautiful home for him."

There was a table set with food and Quynn was hungry, so without asking permission she headed to it and was pleased to see food more acceptable to her palate in addition to the delicacies probably gleaned from under forest rocks. She reached for an oddly shaped fruit, then took a few fat white grubs and popped them in her mouth. Not so long ago she would have been disgusted, but she found she could eat like a Calabrian if she did not dwell on what she was chewing on.

Her belly rebelled more from her condition than from what she was eating, so she drank some sweet juice which helped to settle her stomach.

"You are quiet," he observed without looking at her.

"I really have nothing to gain by talking to you, Staefyn. You are a traitor and a murderer, and I don't even know where to begin wondering what your motives are in kidnapping me."

"I am not a murderer," he said irritably. "Kai is responsible for what happened at Edgeland Fortress."

"Just because he did it makes you no less responsible." He looked as if he wanted to argue, but he must have decided it was futile. She was right and he knew it.

Deciding that a handful of grubs was a good enough start, she took a fruit and bit into it. She was annoyed to see that half a worm remained in the fruit where she had taken her bite, and wincing, she chewed, then swallowed quickly.

Staefyn chuckled. "You are an ill-suited mate for my brother."

He seemed to be in a more tractable mood so she suggested, "Why don't you send me to Edgeland Fortress with an escort? If what you say is true, that Kai is responsible," Quynn suspected it was mostly true because of what the Varoonyan bastard had revealed to her on the transport, "then your father will forgive your part in it." She took another bite of the fruit, not really caring if there was another worm. Did they go out of their way to find wormy fruit?

But Staefyn spun around so fast that she was startled and almost choked on the fruit. "You think my father will forgive me? I tried to kill my own mother, and I called her a wasteland whore! You think he will forgive that?"

"You have made a strong argument against forgiveness," she remarked flippantly.

"Do you know how many assassins have been sent to kill Taeron in my name?" He laughed bitterly as he ran a shaky hand through his hair, his gaze still darting around her, staying on her for only seconds as if he could not bear to look at her. "They see me as a dishonorable cur."

"You _are_ a dishonorable cur," she pointed out.

If he was going to respond, he did not have a chance because the Varoonyan warlord strode onto the terrace. He glanced briefly at Staefyn before his gaze rested on Quynn.

"I see that you are recovered."

She looked at him with contempt. The stones at her throat felt warm, so she forced herself to feel calm although the sight of the warlord infuriated her. "The accommodations are quite lovely although the present company could be improved upon."

In a few long strides he came to her, and she did not expect him to act, but he struck her with the back of his hand so hard that she stumbled and fell against the table. Staefyn took a step towards her, his eyes glowing, but Kai grasped her around the neck and she could not breathe as he squeezed. "Your present company could be much less pleasant, Lady Quynn." He released her and as she struggled to draw in breath, he looked at Staefyn. "You may have her now, sorcerer."

Quynn did not look after him as he stalked away from the terrace, and she closed her eyes to keep from seeing Staefyn when he came to her. She hated the pleasure from his healing touch, hated the quickening of his breath that told her he was getting even more pleasure from healing her. He released her quickly and when she opened her eyes, she saw him standing at the balustrade overlooking the mountainside, his hands gripping the railing.

After a moment he said, "You should not provoke him."

"It's what I do," she told him as she straightened. "If you wanted a biddable Calabrian woman, you should have shopped around."

"There are no females on the markets anymore," he said seriously.

"I was not on the market either, but that did not stop you from purchasing me," she pointed out wryly.

"Return to your room," he ordered her without turning around. "Do not bother trying to escape. Kai tells me you can be tracked with your collar."

Quynn reached up to finger the warm stones. She had gotten good at controlling her magic, but she had not counted on this extra problem. Any plans for sneaking away were ruined before she could formulate them.

Staefyn laughed. "You may spend the day imagining how to escape and I will spend the day amusing myself by reading your mind and staying a step ahead of you."

"Then I will find more amusing things to think about," she remarked. As she walked out, she thought about Amyr and remembered a particularly enjoyable night in his arms in the marshlands on Teralon. By the sound of annoyance Staefyn made, she knew he had intruded upon her thoughts, but the amusement she should have felt was offset by disgust at realizing she had allowed Staefyn to watch her private moments with his brother. She was going to have to guard her thoughts well from his intrusive magic.

The days followed a pattern in which she shared meals with Staefyn that Kai would inevitably interrupt, and when she angered him with acerbic remarks that she just could not suppress and he hit her and Staefyn would follow up with healing. She doubted they worked in tandem. Staefyn could not deny the need to heal her, and his magic was so strong that it affected them both in ways that Quynn found abhorrent while Staefyn seemed to find some release denied to him by the child she carried.

His behavior was erratic and Quynn could not understand what drove him. Staefyn's caustic remarks about his family were so far removed from reality that she had ceased trying to convince him of the truth after only a few days. He was angry with his father for denying Taeron's paternity. He reviled his mother for hiding the truth about Amyr and for the act of weakness with his father that had led to his grandfather placing her into wastelands. He despised Amyr, for real or imagined slights, Quynn did not know although she learned through Staefyn that Amyr had not been kind to him when they were growing up, seeing him either as a rival or an unwanted appendage. There were times that she found her own brother aggravating when she was growing up with Stryfe, but she had never felt this anger towards him, so she convinced herself that something had driven Staefyn to revile his family.

Quynn was in no position to discover the root of his crazed behavior. There were enough guards patrolling under her window and in the hall to take on a small army. She noticed that they did not carry the long sword of imperial warriors, but a variety of weapons that marked them as bandits or zenoite rebels known to be hiding in the hills. More than a few had the glowing red eyes of battle thralls created by Kai from aimless Calabrians that had been driven from imperial houses because of dishonorable behavior. Staefyn surrounded himself with the dregs of Calabria, and if it bothered him, he did not show it.

After the call to Taeron and Amyr that had not ended how Kai and Staefyn wished, Quynn was not surprised that Vaedra brought her a tray of food, informing her that the prince was not well. Since Kai had already given her his habitual evening blow and Staefyn had healed her, she was glad that she did not have to face the revolting pair again. Seeing Amyr bolstered her spirits although she now had the additional worry that he might try something foolish to rescue her. She could only hope that Taeron would prevent him from doing so when Staefyn was probably hoping that he would and was prepared for such a contingency.

In the evenings after the first sunset she was given access to the garden for which she was grateful because she hated being trapped in her chamber with no one to speak to except her personal servant, Vaedra, an old woman with graying hair whose patience and kindness often got on Quynn's nerves. Vaedra lived only to serve and frequently informed Quynn of her gratitude toward the young prince for giving her a home. She had been deathly ill and Staefyn had cured her, so she was completely beholden to him. There was no way Quynn was going to be able to convince her to help her or to buy her aid in escape. Vaedra dressed in the scandalous garments that Staefyn provided for her without comment although Quynn sensed that the older woman's disapproval rivaled her own.

When in the garden, Quynn was under no illusion that she was alone because she could feel eyes upon her and suspected Staefyn watched her. She did not want to think about what he was doing while he watched. Did Calabrian males even gratify their own pleasures when females aplenty would jump to accommodate them? Amyr had admitted to never having had a desire that could not immediately be fulfilled, so she doubted Staefyn's experiences were any different. So why was he ogling her through the leaves of foliage that hid his presence although she felt him?

Finishing with her meal, she paced her chamber for several moments and then told Vaedra she would like to walk in the garden. Vaedra was reluctant at first, but she had not received any instructions to the contrary, so she dressed her in a flimsy gown that covered her from neck to ankle but might not have been there since it clung to her body indecently. None of her garments were respectable, so she had gotten used to wearing them, and she consoled herself with thoughts of what Amyr would think if she wore them for him in the privacy of their chamber. He would be able to react as a man should.

The first sun had already set when Quynn stepped into the garden. It was surrounded by tall, thick bushes that were dotted with beautiful red flowers that reminded her of roses. Large enough for two fountains that attracted birds, Quynn usually made a figure eight path around the fountains before coming to rest on a bench beneath an arch where the rays of the second sun bathed her as it descended. Staefyn had certainly arranged the setting perfectly for her entrance on the stage where he could watch her. Sighing now as she sat on the bench, there was nothing she could do to prevent her ambivalent captor from ogling her. She would think about Amyr and maybe that would cool his ardor.

The wall was too high to scale, at least for her. It might be child's play to an imperial trained Calabrian, but she was a mere mortal, and something three times as high as she was tall posed a bit of a problem. Vaedra remained just inside the palace, giving her privacy, and even though she was sure Staefyn watched her, she was glad to be alone in the garden with her thoughts.

Now she took her mind off Staefyn and his probable motive for watching her into the garden by thinking about Yori. He had been upset that she was leaving him behind when she went to Teralon, but her mother managed to distract him from his tears with mention of a special treat. Yori had not been fooled, but he reluctantly accompanied her mother and Quynn had been left with her own tears after he turned his head to give her one last look with his large, golden eyes. The weeks that she knew she would be separated from her son were bad enough, but now she did not know when or how or even _if_ she would ever escape Staefyn to be with Amyr and Yori again.

Sighing, she was about to leave the bench to return to her room to sleep, her new favorite pastime, when she heard voices and she realized that they were coming from beyond the bushes where she suspected Staefyn watched her.

"Is this where you go every night?"

The woman's low voice was calm, but Quynn heard the censure. She wasn't surprised that she did not recognize the voice because her contact with others was severely limited. She was not allowed to leave this private wing of the palace that she guessed had been designed for the personal use of the emperor and his wife.

"What does it matter to you?" She recognized Staefyn's voice and the resentful tone surprised her. He seemed angry and she guessed he did not want his solitary pleasure interrupted. "Have I yet disappointed you?"

"You please me well, my prince." The woman's husky tone told Quynn exactly how Staefyn pleased her. Curious about the female that Staefyn kept at the palace to serve his baser needs, Quynn glanced first to see if Vaedra was watching and seeing that she was sitting on stool repairing some clothing, she started pushing aside the thick foliage of the bushes separating the gardens, trying not to make noise that would alert them of her spying.

"Not here!" Staefyn snapped irritably.

"Yes, here." The female was breathless with anticipation.

"By the gods!" he snarled, but the tone had changed to something a bit more conducive to what the female had in mind. His groans left Quynn in no doubt as to what was happening.

Disgusted with her own behavior, Quynn was nevertheless delighted when she managed to make a tunnel to see into the garden and she pressed her lips together to stifle a gasp when she saw Staefyn sitting on a bench similar to her own but further away from where she had imagined him watching on her. A female was straddling him, her elegant gown bunched around her waist, her long legs wrapped around him as she moved on him. He may not have initially wanted what they were doing, but he was participating with much enthusiasm now, his head back and his face showing how much pleasure the woman was giving him.

Quynn looked away, embarrassed to have spied on him, but her curiosity was too great and she wanted to see the female better. She had thought that Staefyn had lied about courting a female in the Guerani hills, but she must have been mistaken because it was obvious that what they were doing was well practiced. Why had he not brought her to meet his family, to exchange oaths with her?

She waited until she heard sounds that signaled an end to their efforts to look back at them.

"Come to my chamber," the woman murmured in his ear.

Quynn saw that Staefyn's face was now pillowed in her bosom, her robe open to him, but all Quynn saw of the woman as she pressed her cheek against the top of Staefyn's head was a long pale braid and an elegant hand stroking his cheek.

"No," Staefyn told her, but his voice was breathy and she suspected that he was aroused again. Did those Calabrians ever stop once they started? Quynn smiled as she thought of Amyr, but the smile faded when the woman raised her head and put her fingers under his chin to force Staefyn to look at her.

The female was no beautiful young woman, but a woman with lines of age that marked her well older than her parents and Quynn guessed that she was at least as old as her grandparents. This woman was a faded beauty, but while her grandfather's wife, Lady Virneia had a gentle aged beauty, Staefyn's lover looked down at him with calculating dominance, the lines of her face harsh. Her long pale legs were like snakes around Staefyn and Quynn wanted to shout at him to get away from her poison. But Staefyn proved he had already been bitten by now covering her mouth with his as his hands frantically stroked her body, pushing the robe over her shoulders. Hearing the female's seductive laughter, then her cries of pleasure, Quynn swallowed her disgust and left the bench to hurry back to her room.

Vaedra glanced at her, in the direction she had come and she must of heard the activity on the other side of the bushes because she pursed her lips and turned her attention back to her sewing. She did not speak to Quynn, and Quynn was too horrified by what she had witnessed to even want to discuss it.

That night she had difficulty sleeping as she thought about Staefyn and the other woman, and while it disgusted her to do so, she replayed what she had seen and heard in the garden. Who was the woman? How could Staefyn want her when so many beautiful young females would vie for his attention? Even Quynn had thought him attractive. Now she wondered if his actions with the older woman were another manifestation of whatever was causing him to behave irrationally. She certainly understood why he had not brought her to the imperial palace to meet his family.

The following morning Vaedra escorted her to breakfast as usual with Staefyn. She was not surprised that he looked more relaxed than any time since her arrival. Since she knew he was not going to like what she had to say, she had her meal first, ignoring his remarks about the mild weather. Quynn thought about Yori and what he might be doing on the moon, whether Taeron had landed already on Ulfynaeus and if Amyr had recovered from the blow to his head. At least Yori could be with his father if she had to remain trapped here with Staefyn.

After finishing his meal, Staefyn went to stand at the balustrade looking out over the valley, and she wondered what he thought about. Was he looking towards the imperial city? What would his parents think about his behavior here in the palace they had built to be a place where they could find peace? She realized that he had turned to look at her with a narrowed gaze. All her efforts to keep him from reading her thoughts were for naught as she recalled what he looked like rutting with a woman old enough to be his grandmother.

She knew he had caught her thought when his face flushed and he stalked to her, his eyes glittering with rage. "You spied upon me!" he snarled as he towered over her.

"I thought I would pay you back for all the times you spied on me," she said, unable to keep her mouth from saying what she should keep to herself. Her mother told her that she seemed to have gotten that particularly annoying trait from her father. "Your show was much more interesting."

His shaking hands hovered over her, and the fury she saw in his eyes made Quynn fear for her life when he seized her and dragged her to edge of the terrace. "I could kill you right now!"

Bent over the edge, she saw how far the drop was and estimated her chances of survival to be minimal. She had heard that canyon beasts often roamed beneath the palace and even Calabrian imperial warriors avoided them because the creatures enjoyed a human snack from time to time.

She looked back at Staefyn. "You would not want to have to heal that," she pointed out tartly, suppressing the terror rising inside her. Quynn did not want to die. Not here, not now, not after all that she had gone through. She wanted to see Yori again; she wanted to hold her baby in her arms.

Staefyn dragged her up, his grip on her tight. "Gods, female, this is the only relief I can get!" His eyes were glittering with tears. "You are so beautiful and the only pleasure I can feel with you is when I heal you!" His hand was shaking as he raised it to strike her. Staefyn had never struck her and she thought it impossible, but her mockery about what she had seen had infuriated him as he had never been before.

"Let her go!"

When he promptly released her, she fell to her knees on the flagstones of the balcony weak with relief. Turning her head, she saw the woman from the garden standing near the table, her arms folded over her chest, her chin raised imperiously as she met Quynn's gaze. The female was dressed elegantly as if she were an imperial at the emperor's palace with flashing jewels in her fashionably arranged silver hair, a matching necklace of the same gems.

For several moments there was only the sounds of Staefyn panting as he gulped in air in some effort to regain his sanity. The woman looked from Quynn to Staefyn who did not see the fleeting contempt in her eyes. In that brief look, Quynn saw that she despised her young lover.

Suddenly Vaedra hurried onto the terrace. "My lady!" Vaedra bowed low to the older female who nodded in Quynn's direction in a silent order.

Vaedra hurried to help Quynn to her feet as Staefyn stood silently, his head lowered as if he were a little boy that had been caught in some mischief.

"Are you going to introduce us?" asked the imperial female, her voice soft and cajoling. "I should like to know who you have been spending so much time with of late."

Staefyn reluctantly raised his head. "Lady Quynn of house Maxwell."

"Maxwell?" The woman spat the name in disgust. "This female is that imperial guard's bastard?"

Quynn waved jauntily to her, covering her trepidation with the foolish bravado that the instructors at the academy had told her would land her into trouble some day. Those guys were clairvoyant and she planned to return some day to tell them so. "One and the same. Although he did leave out the part about how I am his brother's wife if you think that is a significant detail."

"Another human female with a sharp tongue, just like her foolish mother."

"So, you know my mother, but I still don't know who you are."

The woman went to Staefyn who took her hand to raise to his lips as she looked at Quynn.

"This is my mate," he announced. "Lady Xuxa."


	54. Chapter 54 Reunion on Ulfynaeus

**Chapter 54**

"Are you headed to the surface so soon? Three days is not long enough to rest after a space voyage that long."

Taeron had been swinging two long swords, the one the emperor had given him and the one he had received from Lady Arora's hands upon becoming an imperial guard. The practice was grueling, and when he finished, the pain was excruciating, but he needed to let out his anger somehow and torturing his body gave him some relief.

Lord Duo was waiting for an answer, so he stopped and sheathed both swords before taking a cloth to dry the sweat from his face and wipe down his arms and chest. "The wounded are settled in Lady Trynity's infirmary, and I need to give my report to the emperor." He glanced at his father with his brow raised. "When we arrived on Teralon after an equally long trip, we were forced to swing our swords and take our battles to the air with winged warriors in the harshest of conditions."

"You know that is not what I am really talking about."

Taeron had been avoiding this conversation since his return. His father was most comfortable talking about battle strategies anyway. "Most of my men have already returned to the surface, so the emperor will be expecting me soon. I need to tell him what Staefyn has done and that Kai is on Calabria."

Although his father had been enraged to hear what had happened to Quynn, he refused to disobey Trey by going to the surface to attack Guerani Palace. To his surprise, his wife agreed with him because she did not believe a Guerani with Staefyn's powers would harm anyone, that he might even be cursed if he allowed harm to come to her when she carried a Guerani child. The ancestors had surely punished Dax for all that he had done and Staefyn would not wish his fate.

Taeron was about to slip on his plain tunic, but he noticed with annoyance that there were a handful of females watching. "Gods," he muttered. Since his return there was no dearth of them crossing his path, offering to serve him, suggesting ways to please him in which he had no interest.

Lord Duo looked in the direction of the females and gave them a scowl that sent them scurrying away. "You should have brought the princess back."

"She did not wish to come," Taeron said bitterly before jerking on his tunic.

"Trey is not going to like what happened to you," predicted his father. "The natural state for a Calabrian male is to be bonded. Trynity thinks that unbonded males give off some sort of scent that attracts females and judging by the reactions of the females here, she is right. They have been neglecting their duties because of you."

Taeron frowned as he thought about what he could expect in the imperial city.

His father smiled sympathetically. "After his anger abates over that Teralonian princess' rejection, he will probably make another attempt at matchmaking, but this time he will choose a Calabrian female that will do her duty."

"I have no interest in any of the imperial females." The idea of tying himself forever to one of those self-serving women at the emperor's court made him clench his fists now. "I cannot imagine being bonded to a female that is only doing her duty."

"They wanted you when they knew you were bonded, so now they will want you even more." Lord Duo chuckled. "Trey will be inundated with requests and, of course, your mother will want to have a hand in choosing your bride."

"I don't want a bride," Taeron reiterated. "I want Dijana." He looked at his father, hating that he should have this conversation with him after feeling as though he had failed as a mate. "Why did she reject me, father? I thought she loved me."

He blew out his breath and put his hand on Taeron's shoulder. "Stryfe told me what happened, and I cannot say that I am surprised by the end result. She has been deeply shamed, Taeron, and she does not feel worthy of you."

"There is no female who is more worthy." Taeron was angry that she could think so little of herself. "I love her! I don't care who she is or what happened to her!"

"But she does," Lord Duo pointed out. "I understand her more than you ever could, Taeron. I had convinced myself that I was not good enough for Trynity and you know what became of that. By the gods! Do you know how long pride kept me from my true mate? The two of you have yet to learn that there is no room for pride in your feelings for one another."

"I would not wish to wait that long to claim Dijana," Taeron said with annoyance as he thought of the years that had separated his father and his mate. Then he added, "But I will if I must."

His father leaned to touch his forehead to Taeron's. "You must move forward with your life, Taeron. When I tried not to, I cheated both you and me of years together that we can never get back."

They fell silent when the side door to the palace opened where Lady Trynity housed her infirmary. She exited with Chaela and headed towards them. "Amyr has pulled himself out of the trance," she announced and Taeron saw that Chaela looked as if she considered it her fault. He could not blame her for not being able to keep Amyr in a serene trance when her Guerani powers were still new to her. He had been impressed that she was able to take Amyr away from reality even if only for a few days.

They could have elicited Yori's help, but they had feared how Amyr would behave in the trance, and they did not want Yori to see his father so agitated. There were no secrets from Quynn's son, so Taeron explained to him what had happened to her and told Yori, as much as himself, that Staefyn would not hurt her, that he was a powerful Guerani. Yori had not responded but he did not react with the panic Amyr had, and since their arrival on Ulfynaeus a few days ago, Yori remained at his father's bedside.

"He wants to speak to you, Taeron," Chaela told him.

He headed to the infirmary immediately and found Amyr sitting up on one of the narrow pallets on which Lady Trynity's patients rested, Yori fast asleep with his dark head resting on Amyr's shoulder, his small arm across his father's wide chest. The boy was probably exhausted so Taeron did not disturb him.

"I want to thank you," Amyr told him softly so that he would not wake his son. "I had completely lost control. I think Staefyn wants people to be unbalanced around him and I played right into his hands."

"Then I imagine he was not happy that I ended the communication mid-sentence," Taeron said with a half-smile. "Quynn has been at his palace for a few weeks already and she did not look any worse for the experience." The bruise on her cheek had looked fresh and Taeron could imagine that her sharp tongue had caused it. At least she had not shown any sign of being Kai's thrall.

"Your sister is a strong female," mused Amyr.

"You are taking this well," Taeron remarked. Then again, he had learned to cope with his separation with Dijana when they were bonded. He was finding it even more difficult now that they were not.

"I had time to think about what I saw and what I did not see. Staefyn healed Quynn so efficiently that I am amazed at his power." Color rose to Amyr's cheeks. "I was jealous to see her in his arms, but upon reflection, I did not see anything in how he held her to justify it."

"I worry what Kai will do to her," admitted Taeron.

Amyr did not agree although Taeron thought he had considered the same thing. Instead he said, "You are going to the surface today?"

"At equal suns." He had avoided returning to Calabria long enough. Both he and Stryfe had duties to return to and he could not put off facing both the emperor and his mother with the news that he had failed in starting his house.

"Can you wait until high second sun?" asked Amyr.

Taeron frowned thinking that Amyr wanted time to ready himself for the trip to the surface. "You should not accompany me until after I have spoken to your father to get his permission for you to return. My father has given me the crystals to take to Edgeland Fortress to repair communications, but he will not disobey the emperor to do it himself. Once he receives word from your father to attend him, he will bring you to the surface with him." Taeron was sure that Trey would not balk at doing so when he sorely missed the counsel of his imperial guard and friend.

"I understand, but you must wait before leaving." Amyr was hiding something, but Taeron knew he would not reveal it even if he pressed him. A few hours would make no difference since nobody knew when to expect his arrival.

Shortly after the point when the suns were at equal distance on both sides of the horizon, the reason for Amyr's request became apparent when Taeron was informed of the arrival of two large transports. His father sent him to the landing field to meet their guests and Taeron was delightedly surprised to see the markings of Bayman on the ships. He was even more pleased to see Shamara step off the first transport, and he hurried forward to pull her into his embrace.

She held him tightly. "Oh, Taeron, I have missed you!" She was smiling as she gripped his arms but leaned back to look at his face. "What have you done? You have gone and made yourself the lord prince!"

His cheeks were burning. "I did not ask for the honor."

"There is no man more deserving."

The voice had come from behind Shamara, and Taeron went to the woman who had exited the ship, and dropping to a knee before her, he bowed his head. "Welcome to Ulfynaeus, gracious lady."

The emperor's wife put her hand on his head and when he felt her fingers sifting through his hair, he thought of the many times she had done so when he was a child. "Lord Prince Taeron, you honor me."

"I am happy that you are safely returned, gracious lady." Taeron looked up at Lady Arora's beautiful face and found that she was smiling down at him, her golden eyes misty. He loved this kind and gentle woman as much as his own mother, and he ached to think of the pain he now knew that she suffered from those that reviled her for who she was and what had been done to her. "Does the emperor know that you are returning?"

"I am going to surprise him," she said with an mischievous smile. Then she leaned in to whisper, "Perhaps you can keep him from taking his medicine."

"Mother!" Shamara was laughing although she pretended to be scandalized. She looked at Taeron. "My sisters and brother have remained on Bayman. Dagan grumbled about being in charge of the imperial nursery, but in truth I will have to think of an adequate way to reward Vanik who has committed himself to the safety of the emperor's children." She winked. "I think he has his eye on my sister, Ginaesa."

Was Ginaesa old enough to take a mate already? Scarcely younger than Staefyn by a year, Taeron supposed she was although he had not seen much of her since she had been a small child when he entered his imperial training.

Lady Arora took Taeron's arm before he could struggle to remember the names and faces of the other three children all having been born in his absence from the palace. "Now take me to my son."

She had not seen Amyr in several years, so he did not need to be Guerani to sense her eagerness, and she was delighted to discover that Chaela was on Ulfynaeus as well. Lady Arora was in full command of her powers and she rarely pried by warding herself from the thoughts and feelings of others, and Taeron did not tell her about Kaerwen because he did not know what Chaela would wish her to know. What Taeron knew now made him wish he had given Balak and Avar slow and painful deaths. Because he knew the reunion would be difficult, he escorted Lady Arora first to Lady Trynity who greeted her warmly before taking her to her private sitting room that overlooked her beautiful garden.

Shamara followed him from the room when he hoped she would remain with her mother as he went to escort Chaela to her. "What is wrong, Taeron? My mother is too polite to find out for herself, but I think you are hiding something about Chaela." Shamara was frowning at him as she tried to keep up with his long strides. "You are very obstinate and I cannot read your thoughts."

Taeron frowned at her. "Why are you trying in the first place?"

"What has my sister done now?"

Stopping, he turned to face her. "Chaela is very dear to me, Shamara, she has always been so. You will find that she has greatly changed since her time on Teralon." Taeron did not want to speak the words, so he reached down to take her hands and he guessed what she sensed from his touch by the shock and then sadness he saw in her eyes.

For a moment she was speechless, and then he saw her tears. "My heart is full for my sister. If only we could have known what Avar was doing to her, you could have taken her from that horrid place sooner."

Taeron shook his head sadly. There were moments that he blamed himself for his single-minded drive in routing the Varoonyans. He could have returned Chaela to Calabria then and Avar could not have stopped him. Why had he not realized that Chaela had needed his help when she had been so uncharacteristically quiet when he had embraced her upon leaving?

Sighing he said, "There is no one to blame but Avar. He was a greedy, selfish bastard." Knowing what he had done to Dijana, Taeron wished he had not balked at killing the queen's son. Then again, the sword to his heart would have been too quick a death and he had Neria to thank for taking a proper vengeance on him.

They encountered Chaela standing outside the infirmary, so Taeron assumed she could sense their approach and was waiting for them. Shamara went to her and as the sisters hugged, Taeron went into the infirmary to tell Amyr that his mother had arrived. Amyr had already finished dressing and was waiting for him.

"Of course, you already know it."

Amyr grinned at him. "I am liking these powers more and more. I can stay a step ahead of you, brother."

Taeron snorted derisively and Amyr laughed.

Shamara and Chaela had gone ahead, so they walked slowly through the palace to give Chaela time to be with her mother, and by the time they came to the chamber, they had been joined by Yori who had been sent by his grandfather with the news that he had a visitor.

"My grandmother," he announced with a bright smile. Taeron shook his head as he realized that Yori had already somehow contacted Lady Arora. He knew he was right when the door opened and she held out her arms to her grandson. Yori threw himself against her as if he had known her his whole life.

"I don't think I can imagine what a Guerani village must have been like," commented Taeron aloud. "Did they ever speak?"

Amyr shrugged as he watched his mother cover his son's face with kisses. "I doubt they had a reason to."

Shamara came to them. "They probably laid around all day in a trance." She threw her arms around Amyr and hugged him. "You have always been an annoying brother, but I am so happy that you are back!"

"And I do not know how I have lived these last few years without you nagging me about my behavior."

Lady Arora came to Amyr, and as she put her arms around her son and began to weep, Taeron stepped away to give them privacy. When they went into the chamber, he closed the door and went in search of his brothers.

Stryfe was putting the finishing touches on his manuscript detailing the imperial actions on Teralon while Jeshed paced as if he were caged. Lord Duo had forbidden him from shifting to dragon form on Ulfynaeus because he feared that clansmen might try to hunt him. And since taking to the skies was his way of easing his anxiety, he needed to do so because he was anxious for Quynn and nervous about spending time with Lady Larya. He was afraid that the woman he now considered his mother would find fault in him, so Taeron could sympathize after spending his life pleasing his mother. After all that she had suffered, Taeron had wanted to make her happy.

Jeshed had spent the last couple of days in Lord Duo's company and while Taeron's father was not initially comfortable with the shapeshifter, he soon warmed to him. Jeshed was a sweet, naïve young man and when Lord Duo remarked that Lady Larya was going to eat him alive, Jeshed was horrified by the imagery his dragon's mind had conjured until Stryfe explained that his father meant that Lady Larya was not going to literally eat him being that she had a marked preference for spiced grubs and had never eaten animal flesh, either cooked or raw. But he had better plan on her controlling every aspect of his life. Jeshed did not seem as bothered by that warning as he should have been.

"Lady Arora and Princess Shamara will be accompanying us to the planet along with three dozen soldiers from Bayman."

"Three dozen." Stryfe whistled and Taeron took it as sarcasm. "How did King Dagan manage to part with so many?"

Taeron chuckled. "Dagan has more imperials on Bayman protecting him than he sent to us. The only warrior from Bayman I would consider worthy is Vanik and he has remained on Bayman to play nursemaid to both Dagan and the imperial children. I will thank King Dagan for his gesture all the same."

"I think you are getting the hang of being lord prince," Stryfe remarked. He nodded to the open window which overlooked the courtyard where Taeron had been swinging his swords. "I heard what father told you and he is right. First, you are going to be as sought after as that shipment of tea that is going to the surface with you, as if females needed another reason to flock to you. The emperor has probably already made an alternate plan in the event Princess Dijana were killed before your return to Teralon. At the least, he will use your availability as an excuse to invite the houses to offer their females and that will attract unbonded males to offer for the females you reject."

Taeron was about to tell him he would reject them all, but Stryfe continued and he suspected that his brother was already privy to the emperor's plans for him, especially since Stryfe had known all along why his union with Dijana had been so important. He should not be upset that his brother was so loyal to the emperor that he would keep information from him, but a small part of him wished Stryfe would warn him.

"If you recall what happened to Shamara and how disappointed the emperor was in the result of that fiasco, he will barter your freedom from the matrimonial shackle to the most worthy Calabrian imperial house."

Frowning, Taeron remarked, "You make it sound as if marriage is an unpleasant state. Your parents are not unhappy; my mother has never been happier with her shackle and I know that the emperor will be overjoyed to be reunited with his. I had looked forward to spending my life with Dijana."

"Well, you had better put that plan behind you because I doubt that Trey will be predisposed to considering Princess Dijana any more."

Taeron knew it was true, had known it when he left Dijana behind. "I still want her." Taeron's anger had abated and he wished he had not behaved so erratically before leaving Teralon. "If I give her time..."

"She had her mind made up," Jeshed spoke up. He opened his mouth to say more but Stryfe glared him into silence. Taeron probably did not want to hear whatever Jeshed had gleaned from her thoughts when what she had said to him hurt him enough.

Stryfe turned back to Taeron. "Don't take advice from a shapeshifter who, until recently, snacked on animals larger than we are. He doesn't know anything about females. If you ask him, he won't be able to tell you how they fit together despite Neria's detailed instructions."

"I know how they fit together," retorted Jeshed with a childish pout. "This morning, I saw one of the palace females kneeling before one of the guards and..."

Taeron cut him off. "I think we know what you saw and that is not the proper interaction of which we speak."

Stryfe chuckled. "I wonder what Haedya is up to now. I may see if she has a few moments to spare before I leave." He winked at Taeron. "Seeking her might be less taxing and more relieving than swinging your swords day and night."

Taeron frowned at Stryfe and did not respond. He was not about to sully what he had with Dijana by seeking Haedya to perform her particular skill.

Jeshed scratched his head and Taeron thought he looked like his father when he did it. Had he spent so much time with Lord Duo these last couple of days that he had adopted his mannerisms? His mother was not going to be pleased. "Why did they seem to enjoy the activity if it is improper?"

"Ask Lady Larya to explain," Stryfe suggested and Taeron grimaced as he imagined his mother explaining what Jeshed had witnessed. He had better remind him not to ogle the females in her home.

Jeshed seemed to be affronted. "You mock my mother!"

"I but jest," said Stryfe seriously now. "There are very few women I admire and respect more than Lady Larya. I intend to visit Edgeland Fortress soon to record some of her recollections of the time she spent in the imperial palace during Zeno's reign."

"My mother does not like to talk about those days," Taeron reminded him. He did not want Stryfe upsetting her with his interminable questions.

"If she does not want to talk about it, then I will ask her to tell me about her favorite subject. I am sure she has many stories about your childhood, Taeron."

Not as many as she would have liked, he thought sadly, but Taeron nodded. "You may ask her about it."

Stryfe sighed. "If you are not worried about what she will tell me, then there must be nothing interesting to write about." He raised a brow as he looked at Taeron, and then he shook his head. "What was I thinking? Of course there is nothing interesting."

"I did as I was told," said Taeron proudly and he saw Jeshed nod in agreement. Jeshed would always be his ally.

"Regardless, I am hoping that speaking about you might disarm her enough to tell me about her more interesting time as Lady Xuxa's slave. You know that there are quite a few imperials that dislike her intensely for whatever secrets she seduced out of them to offer to that ambitious female. Xuxa had a stranglehold on the males of Zeno's court, Dax and Zeno included. Her fall from power was very high indeed."

"She deserved her fate," Taeron said. "Zeno returned her in disgrace to her clan for her betrayal. Her brother had the right to put her in the Wastelands, but the Wastelands were blossoming with the gods' favor, so her brother turned her away from their clan and no one would take her in. One day she walked into the Guerani Hills and never came out." Taeron doubted a pampered female like Xuxa could have lasted long in the inhospitable hills. She had probably ended her life in the stomach of a canyon beast, her remains resting in a heap of dung. That would have been a fitting end to such a female.

"I do not need to hear any sordid tales from your mother," Stryfe said. "But I am interested in comparing the role of females under Zeno to that under Trey. Some say that the changes Trey instituted make it more difficult for males and females to interact. The males of the imperial houses overprotect their females and the males have no access to them. Events such as Shamara's courtship and now yours seem to be the only way for them to mingle and soon enough Trey is going to run out of children to marry off." He gave Taeron a half-smile. "Thirty years ago you would not have thought twice about taking Dijana away with you with or without her consent."

"Thirty years ago she would not have had the right to consent," Taeron reminded him. "And she would not have had a male like Roehan to protect her."

"So we have made the full circle. We are back to talking about Dijana." Stryfe rolled up the parchment and tied it with blue ribbons at the end of which would hang the emperor's medallions when he approved the reading. "I have finished. As usual, brother, you are the hero of the story, the liberator of Teralon."

"So it should be," said Jeshed. "My brother is a paladin."

Taeron wished the life of a paladin were not so lonely.


	55. Chapter 55 Comfort from the ancestors

**Chapter 55**

The reunion was of necessity short because Taeron needed to return to the surface to warn the emperor of Staefyn's latest perfidy. Although he had advised against it Lady Arora insisted that her children and grandson accompany them to the planet to wait at Edgeland Fortress for word from Trey before continuing on to the Imperia together. She did not need to argue with him because Taeron agreed that the emperor would want to reunite with his son. Lord Duo suggested that Jeshed remain behind with the flimsy excuse that he did not officially belong to a house and that they would wait for Trey's approval. Taeron had overheard him remark to Trynity that he wanted more time with him before Larya could mold him to her liking.

The flight to the surface was uneventful despite fear that Staefyn might send gliders after them, but he must have depleted that resource with the brief battle to prevent the imperial warriors from reaching Teralon. Danlaer offered to spin the craft a few times to make Taeron feel more at home and when Shamara laughed, her mother scolded her for making light of Taeron's affliction. Shortly after, Lady Arora used her magic to keep Taeron from shaming himself shortly as the descended to the planet. Listening to the imperial family interact on the short trip to the surface made Taeron long for the days he had lived with them at the imperial palace when he was but a bastard without a house living a life of privilege with the emperor's family. The emperor had made him one of them now and he had weighty responsibilities that he hoped he could fulfill.

After landing near Edgeland Fortress at the airfield, they were welcomed by Apolo who had immediately held his sister in an embrace that touched Taeron's heart. As children they believed they were the only Guerani left on Calabria and could trust only each other. Apolo must have been horrified to hear how close his beloved sister had come to losing her life, and as they held each other, Taeron guessed they were communicating without speaking. When they finally stepped away, he saw that their cheeks were wet with tears.

Taeron accompanied the family to the fortress and after his mother greeted him effusively, he managed to escape without giving her any explanation about the absence of the woman he was to marry. His excuse was to deliver the crystals that would power the communication systems giving the emperor access to his allies on other planets once again by establishing a link to the various satellites that Bayman had scattered through the binary system. He doubted the emperor would allow him to contact Dijana, but as Taeron left the control room behind, he fantasized about speaking to her again without her father looming over her.

Having left the repairs to men who had more knowledge than him of what they should do, he avoided the family quarters where his mother would be entertaining the emperor's family. He climbed to the roof of the fortress and without knowing why, he turned to face the hills that were barely visibile in the waning light of the second sun. Guerani Palace was in that direction and as he peered into the darkness to make out the faint outline of the mountains, he thought he could hear whispering, but he knew it was only the wind. He had wanted to think about how he was going to make Staefyn pay for all that he had done, not leaving his vengeance this time to others. But his eyes closed and his body shuddered as soothing tremors rippled through him. For several moments he stood thus, listening to the incomprehensible whispers on the wind.

"I thought you might be in the communications center supervising."

Apolo's voice seemed to come from the whispers, but Taeron realized his mother's mate was standing behind him. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and left behind the only peace he had known since Dijana had sent him out of her life.

"Amyr told us about Princess Dijana," Apolo said as he laid a comforting hand on Taeron's shoulder. Apolo must have used his powers to ease him although the hand he had lain on him did not contain the same power to which he had surrendered moments ago.

"I expected my mother," he said with a sigh.

Apolo smiled. "She is completely out of her element with six Guerani in her presence. I think she is afraid they will put her in a trance or accidentally draw her into one which I would not put past Shamara. I was able to slip away while she was preoccupied."

Taeron wondered if the presence of so many of the healers had given him the peace he had felt moments ago.

"We all know how you must feel, Taeron."

"I cannot give up hope that Dijana will come to her senses." Hope was all that kept his heart beating. "In the meantime, I have obligations and I cannot let my personal feelings get in the way of what I must do for the emperor."

"Do not let the brother of my heart trample upon your feelings, Taeron. He must consider the needs of Calabria before his own, and by extension, yours."

When had he ever? wondered Taeron without speaking. The emperor had fallen in love with a Guerani female, saved their female child from the Wastelands and tried to spare his father's life.

"There is a limit to how much he can defy the imperials. His power comes from the warlords that have given their oaths, and sooner rather than later he will have to appease them."

Taeron suspected that both Apolo and Stryfe knew what Trey had planned for him and that he was going to be offered as sacrifice.

Apolo turned towards the hills and for a moment he did not speak and when Taeron looked at him, he saw that the Guerani was feeling as Taeron had when he stood alone. Then he turned to look at him. "In all this time you have been gone, Trey has scarcely responded to the bandits that roam freely in the hills, raiding sporadically in the Wasteland settlements. He has been waiting patiently for you to return, to send you off to war again, this time on Calabria."

Taeron sighed heavily, knowing it was his duty but wishing he could have some respite from war. Roehan had good reason to want something for his daughter than a man that coated his blade with blood from sunup to sundown and the hours inbetween.

"There was much killing on Teralon," he told Apolo. "It was easier to kill battle thralls the first time I was there than to butcher men who were led astray by a greedy fool."

"You will find the same here." said Apolo. "In those days after Trey came to power, there were few days that we were not fighting. Between the clans and the houses that had wanted to wrest power from Zeno's house, we rushed from one battle to another. If we did not have house Wattan with us, house Caron would have defeated us, and I often suspected that house Wattan allied with Trey because they were neighbors of house Caron to the south and wanted to see them crushed for real or imagined transgressions against them."

Taeron remembered the female of house Caron that had presented herself, but Apolo continued speaking to keep him from dreading the possibility that Trey would demand that he take her as his mate.

"I did not enjoy killing my fellow Calabrians, but they stood between the corruption of the past and the hope for a better future for us all. I was glad when Rendael of house Caron finally submitted to Trey and retired to his lands. Given his actions of late, Staefyn wants to return to those dark days. "

"Have you been able to discover why?" asked Taeron curiously.

Apolo shook his head. "The few men we have been able to capture had no insight to his motivation. One of the men referred to him as a mad sorcerer and I fear he must be to do what he has done. To buy Quynn as if she were a slave? My brother outlawed the sale of females long before Staefyn's birth so he will be dismayed to learn that his son purchased the daughter of his imperial guard as if she were livestock."

Taeron wished Apolo would accompany them to relay the news of Staefyn's dishonorable actions, but Apolo needed to command the fortress that stood between Imperia and the hills were a madman was gathering an army that would be commanded by a fiend. "I think Amyr wants to storm Guerani Palace," Taeron remarked.

"He has already mentioned a plan, but I am sure that I convinced him of the impossibility. We did not design the summer residence of the emperor with flaws that can be exploited. It is a fortress in the mountains that is locked tight against invasion." Apolo sighed deeply. "And Staefyn has warded the palace so well that I cannot detect anything beyond his spell."

"How are we going to dig the rat out of there?" asked Taeron, not liking what he was hearing. He had hoped that with Guerani on his side, they could find a way to penetrate the palace in the mountains.

"We will wait for him to make a move."

"That will give him more time to amass an army," pointed out Taeron.

"You cannot suggest striking now, Taeron. Even Amyr understands that to force his hand might provoke the Varoonyan warlord and there are surely limits to even Staefyn's ability to protect Quynn and her unborn child."

"I dislike waiting," Taeron grumbled. The sooner he put an end to Staefyn …. His body suddenly shuddered with the same calming tremors he felt earlier, and he glanced at Apolo to see if he was using his powers on him, but Apolo seemed oblivious.

"And while we wait, the rest of us will be amused at your expense, Taeron. Once the imperial families learn that you are available, their females will not let you up for air."

He frowned. "I have no interest in them."

Apolo ignored him. "Don't count on Arora for help. I heard her and Shamara bandying names of eligible females back and forth, Calabrian and Bayman women alike."

"And my mother? She must have her own opinion," commented Taeron resentfully. By the gods, he was done with courting, but he certainly did not want anyone else choosing a female for him or he was going to end up tied to an imperial whose males used him to increase their own power.

"She only wants what will make you happy." Apolo gave him a quick hug. "I had better return to her before she is overwhelmed."

Taeron had an early start in the morning so he went to his chamber and was not surprised that Amyr was not waiting for him. He probably still had much to discuss with his mother and sisters so he would not expect him to sleep on the mat laid out on the floor. Taeron doubted Amyr would ever lower himself to sleep there as he had many nights.

After removing his clothing, he laid back on the pillows and he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but his thoughts kept returning to Dijana. Not the Dijana that had welcomed him into her bed, but the woman whose eyes were shadowed with pain, so sleep was long in coming and did not last long before a gentle hand on his cheek awoke him. He knew immediately who it was and did not hesitate to sit up to embrace his mother.

"You have avoided me since your arrival," she crooned softly as she caressed his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "You are not ashamed, are you? You do not blame yourself for her decision."

She knew him well. "I could not convince her of my love."

His mother sighed as she brought his head to her shoulder. "From what Amyr told me, Princess Dijana was very confused by all that had happened. She needs time to sort through it."

In the dark, he could admit to his mother his fear. "The emperor will ask me to take a different female as my mate. What will I do then when I love her so deeply?"

She huffed. "Trey can try to force you into a marriage you do not want, but if it is within my power and I believe Princess Dijana loves you in return, I will prevent such a union." She kissed the top of his head. "Now put aside your worries. Would you like to hear a story? I have recently heard a new one from an off world merchant who has since opened a shop in the plaza market. It is about a dragon king on a planet far away." She paused for a moment and then said, "I expected Jeshed to accompany you."

Taeron did not know how to respond when he knew she wanted the truth, so he first told him what his father said about waiting on Trey's approval and then what he had overheard him saying later.

"I am not surprised!" He was relieved that she only sounded irritated. "That fool has not realized yet that I will always have the last word concerning my children."

Since her statement was true, he did not argue for his father.

His mother's story must have put him to sleep because he awoke shortly after first sunrise to find that she had gone and as he suspected Amyr had not come to his room. By the time he finished washing and dressing for the day in an ornate, gold-embroidered purple tunic that his mother must have laid out for him, the second sun was rising so he went to the transport and was surprised to find Stryfe waiting for him as well as his mother and her mate.

"You missed the end of the story," she chided him after kissing his cheeks and giving him a quick hug.

Taeron smiled ruefully. "I doubt you finished it after I fell asleep."

She pinched his cheek. "I would not dream of leaving the story untold in its entirety."

"My sister will be remaining behind," Apolo informed him. "She wants to spend more time with us and her children before resuming her duties."

"We will be planning her reunion with her mate," his mother said. "I have some ideas that I may have to explain in detail to her. In some ways she is still very innocent in the ways of men."

Taeron did not ask what those ideas were and was glad for the distraction when Apolo handed him a leather bound packet. "Here is some reading material to entertain Trey: my reports."

Stryfe snorted and snatched the packet from Taeron. "You mean to say that it is material that I will read to him while he pretends to listen. Is there anything even remotely entertaining in your reports?"

"If you think the catalogue of damages to the fortress in the attack is entertaining, then yes."

Stryfe rolled his eyes and climbed onto the hover transport that would enable them to reach the city by late afternoon instead of the two days it usually took on horseback. Taeron looked past his mother hoping to see Amyr, but he had not come, and while he was not surprised he had slept late, he was disappointed to miss the chance to warn him against making any move against Guerani Palace. So after another hug from his mother, he boarded the transport with Stryfe and they took off.

Outside Imperia, Taeron met with the troops that had accompanied him to Teralon and he left the transport behind to mount a brightly caparisoned horse provided by the emperor for his entrance into the imperial city. Taeron wished that Amyr could have been able to ride with him to receive the tribute from the city that he deserved, but even if Trey had forgiven him privately, he had yet to do so publicly and the warlords might view Amyr's presence as defiance. Trey did not need another son to be seen as rebellious. Instead he rode with Darlac at his side with Meridon's men marching alongside the emperor's trained warriors. Taeron did not know how Trey would feel about it, but they deserved to be honored for their service to the emperor even if they had not given him an oath.

After the gates of the city swung wide to allow them entrance, Taeron mused how similar their procession through the avenue leading to the palace was to the day three years ago when he had returned from Varoonya. The people lining the street, crowding to get a view of the crown prince, cheered the returning forces and pretty females tossed flower petals at the imperial warriors.

When he reached the palace, he climbed the steps, but he paused at the top and turned around to face his men who had come to a stop in the plaza that was usually crowded with merchant stalls but which had been cleared for this occasion. Taeron thanked the warriors for their service and told them that it had been his honor to fight at their side. He expressed his hope that they would not soon be called again in the service of their emperor, but if they were, he would be confident that they would serve the empire as well as they had on Teralon. He entered the palace with the shouts of approval from the warriors and the deafening cheers of the people.

Unfortunately, once he was inside the enormous receiving hall, Taeron found that little had changed with the nobles except that now they seemed to view him with some degree of hostility. No doubt they saw him as a threat to their own perceived power in light of his success on Teralon, and there were still many who scorned him for who he was with no regard to what he had done.

The crowd waiting to see the emperor parted as he headed straight to the receiving chamber, his hands on the hilts of both of his swords to warn any ambitious imperial that he would be foolish to move against him. He must be scowling because men stumbled over themselves to get out of his way and even the females stayed away from him.

The double doors to the receiving room opened and the guards allowed him to enter with Stryfe and Darlac behind him. The emperor left his throne and Taeron expected him to greet him first, but Trey threw himself against Stryfe.

"Gods be praised you have returned! I have been so bored!" He hugged his scribe and then he looked at Taeron who saw his mischievous smile. "You did not think I missed you, did you, my son?"

Taeron chuckled and held out his hand and the emperor took it to pull him into an embrace. "I feared that you had not."

Trey nodded to Darlac. "I see that you brought Meridon's son back in one piece again." He raised a brow. "When is your father going to give me his oath?"

"When the suns collide," Darlac told him with a grunt.

Shaking his head, Trey turned back to Taeron. "I received your preliminary message, that Teralon has been sufficiently subdued, but I am perplexed about the part concerning Princess Dijana."

Taeron had prepared what he would say, had thought through his words many times, so now he took a breath and began. "I know that you ordered me to begin my house, and I swear to you on my honor that I tried..."

"By crawling up a rope to her chambers, risking his life," inserted Stryfe which earned him a grateful smile from the emperor for adding the detail.

Ignoring him, he continued, "...to the best of my abilities..."

"He can compose ballads," interrupted Darlac.

"And sing with a gods' blessed voice," added Stryfe.

"Interesting," said Trey as he stroked his chin between his thumb and his forefinger. "I may need to hear it myself to believe it."

Taeron took a calming breath before he unleashed his anger for having his carefully constructed apology torn asunder by Stryfe and Darlac. He shuddered to think of what Amyr would add if he were there.

"Princess Dijana has rejected my offer of marriage."

"Offer of marriage?" Trey's frown was dark and ominous. "I thought you were bonded and mated to that female."

"Her father, prince consort Roehan refused to recognize my bond." Then he added, "I submitted to treatment by the sorceress on Norvana, paid for by Teralon, to remove my bond."

Trey straightened and he looked now like the emperor of Calabria that inspired fear. "They dared refuse to recognize your rights?" He looked to Stryfe who nodded in confirmation, then he asked, "Who is Roehan? What happened to Balak? And who is the sorceress?"

Stryfe put his hand on the emperor's shoulder. "I have already told you of the sorceress."

Trey grunted. "The same female that unbonded Amyr from Quynn?"

"One in the same. She offered to unbond him again, but he refused. As for the rest, it's a long story. Do you have time?"

The emperor smiled and put his hand on the scribe's shoulder. "For you, Stryfe, I can make time." He looked at Taeron. "Send everyone away for the rest of the day."

Remembering how many people waited to be heard by the emperor, Taeron balked. "How do you intend for me to do that? I have already sent my men home so I will have to fight a pitched battle alone in the reception hall."

"I heard your rousing speech to your warriors on the steps. I wanted to cheer along with them." Trey chuckled although Taeron was not in the mood to deal either with the imperial nobility who were more venomous than the creatures in the northern marshlands of Teralon or with hearing the details of his failure in securing Princess Dijana as his wife.

"You have a dark look, Taeron. Go mingle with my nobles and I am sure one or two of them will try to stab you." Trey gave him a wink and then maneuvered Stryfe away and as Taeron turned to leave, he saw the emperor reaching for the long, round leather case in which Stryfe had placed the account of what had happened on Teralon.

Darlac accompanied him to the door. "Before this is over, you are going to be singing again. Do you remember the words?"

Even before the door closed he heard the emperor's laughter and Taeron sighed deeply at hearing the signal that his dignity had become severely compromised.

"Gods! I hope someone tries to stab me." He rolled his shoulders in anticipation. A little blood-letting might make him feel better.


	56. Chapter 56 Trances at Edgeland Fortress

**Chapter 56**

As he shared his meal with his family at the Edgeland Fortress, Amyr watched all these people that he had taken for granted in the past now interact and he felt gratitude to the ancestors for giving him the gifts that made this possible. Chaela was mothering Yori, and Amyr knew that part of the reason was that Yori resembled her own child, and Yori allowed her for the same reason. She was healing from her loss, but Kaerwen would always remain in part of her soul. Apolo chatted with Shamara about her children while boasting of his own and Amyr remembered with amusement how his uncle had claimed that no one woman was enough for him. As it turned out, there was one woman to whom he had given his heart long ago, and because Larya had only used him under Lady Xuxa's orders to get to Arora, she had broken his heart. For many years he had not forgiven her for putting his beloved sister in danger.

His mother had her head bent towards that very woman as she shared confidences. He never ceased to marvel at their friendship after the efforts the beautiful Larya had made to seduce Amyr's father. The will of the gods had surely saved Larya when she tried to kill them. The imperials might despise Larya for all that she had done as Lady Xuxa's slave, but Larya had proven herself favored by the gods in the subsequent events in her life. Now he caught a few words about some plan to seduce the emperor and Amyr chuckled as he imagine how little effort his mother would have to make.

She heard him and turned to look at him. "You find my plans amusing, my prince?"

"Only that you would go to any trouble at all when you have but to present yourself. I doubt you have been separated from my father for this long and he is eager for your return." His parents had never hidden their mutual attraction and they had all learned at an early age not to disturb them in their chamber.

She sighed and reached out to put her hand on Amyr's. He felt her love and the need she had to please her mate. "Just because we have been together so long does not mean we do not have the feelings that we had when we were young."

Amyr thought of Taeron's ballad and he sighed as he curled his fingers around hers. "I understand."

"What is this about a song?" she asked with a raised brow having read his thoughts. "Taeron can sing?"

"I have never heard my son do more than hum," remarked Larya. She glanced at Shamara. "You spent many days with him during your silly courtship of Prince Dagan. Did you ever hear him sing?"

"Only when we were intoxicated from smoking weed," Shamara told them, not denying that she had been the one to court her mate. "I am sorry that I do not recall much from that experience except a lot of swords and a lot of blood." Although there had probably been a lot of blood, Amyr knew there had been only one sword. He wondered which of Lady Trynity's herbs was the one that they had smoked and if she would be angry if he tried to smoke it.

Shrugging off the plan as silly - Quynn would probably know all about it and could help him if he wanted to pursue the experiment - Amyr told them how Taeron had composed a ballad with the help of his warriors and sang it for the Teralonians during his courtship of their princess. When they viewed him skeptically even with Chaela's confirmation, he reached out to take his mother's hand and offered his other hand to Larya, but she shook her head and shrank back.

He had never gone to the past in a trance, but his mother helped him and soon they were standing in the banquet hall on Teralon. Amyr and his mother stood to the side and Amyr could see himself sitting at the table with Stryfe and he remembered wagering with the scribe that Taeron would make a fool of himself. The other suitors had stepped away and he and his mother listened as Taeron spoke to Neria.

Arora leaned closer to Amyr to whisper although they would not be heard anyway because they were not really there. "When did Taeron get such a smooth tongue?"

"Taeron is capable of inhuman feats where that female is concerned," he told her.

Taeron stepped back after speaking and began to sing. Amyr heard his mother gasp and he felt her heart beating faster as Taeron sang his beautiful song of love. Hearing it again moved Amyr and he squeezed his mother's hand, feeling the ache Taeron's song had evoked in her heart. He did not release her until the last note of the song had faded and they had returned to Edgeland Fortress. Turning to look at her, he saw that her cheeks were wet with tears, and reaching up, he wiped them away with the backs of his fingers.

When his mother had composed herself enough to speak, she said, "Taeron is blessed in so many ways." Arora turned and hugged Larya who was surprised by the emotional outburst. "Your son is truly the gods' gift to you and to us all."

Larya sniffed. " _I_ always knew that. I am surprised it has taken you all so long to realize it."

After the meal, Amyr took Yori to his bed, but after his son was sleeping, he left the room and stepped out onto the terrace that extended the length of the residential wing of the fortress. In the distance he could almost see the Guerani Hills by the light of the moon. His mate was in those hills, and there was nothing he could do to help her. Yet as he stood there, something called to him, something that had never spoken so clearly to him before. He could hear voices, whispers on the wind, calling to him, comforting him, giving him peace.

"Do you hear them?"

He turned his head to see that Shamara had come onto the terrace from her room as well. "I do."

"I have always been able to hear them," she told him as she came to him and slipped her hand in his and he could hear the voices clearly now, urging him to have faith. "Dagan could hear them after Mordraeus was destroyed, when his Guerani powers were not blocked by sorcery. You hear the ancestors, all who have come before us and who impart their wisdom if we but listen."

Amyr looked in the direction of the mountains and could faintly make out the highest peak which was a volcano that had errupted seven years ago. "Do you think Dax stood here and listened to them? Did they even speak to him?"

Shamara sighed and put her arm around his waist and Amyr slipped his arm around her shoulders. "I think they spoke to him, but Camridaeus did not allow him to listen, just as Mordraeus kept them from Dagan. By the time of his death, he could not even hear Valerya in his heart."

Closing his eyes, Amyr imagined Quynn and wondered what it would be like to have her in his heart and yet be unable to feel and hear her. His grandfather's madness was certainly understandable.

"We have not spoken of Staefyn," Shamara said after a moment of silence.

He opened his eyes. "What is there to say? He has lost his mind."

"He has lost his way," she corrected him. "I know that he has hurt you, Amyr, but even mother does not want to abandon him. He is one of us."

Amyr met her gaze in the light of the moons. "You want me to forgive him? Do you know what I have suffered at his hands? I can forgive him for that! Can you imagine what he might be doing to my mate? I can even forgive him for that! But he tried to kill our mother! Taeron told me what Staefyn said about her! Wasteland whore? I want to wrap his own entrails around his neck and choke him with his own excrement." A strong calming breeze wrapped around him and he knew the ancestors were cautioning him.

"You cannot harm him," she reminded him. "What must he be suffering to have become this monster? Staefyn loved mother when he was a child. When I see Yori, I am reminded of how Staefyn was and I am not surprised that he came into his powers so young."

"And yet he hid them!" Amyr clenched his fists at his side as he thought of Staefyn watching him, planning to take everything from him. "He used his powers to kill me in a trance!"

Shamara frowned. "You are alive, Amyr, and not only are you no worse for the experience, but you have a beautiful child because of it."

Furious, unwilling to release his anger, he moved away from her, trying as he did to shrug off the ancestors. "You have always been too good, Shamara."

"Perhaps I still have some of Ulfynaeus in me," she suggested with a soft laugh.

Despite his anger, he smiled and shook his head. "I pity that poor goddess for suffering inside you all those years."

Shamara laughed. "Can you imagine what she suffered inside Apolo?"

They both knew that Ulfynaeus had not been a goddess, but a powerful Guerani who had passed her essence through their line until leaving Shamara to help protect their world from destruction.

After a moment of silence Shamara asked, "Have you tried to contact Quynn?"

"I cannot," he told her. "Staefyn is very powerful and has warded the palace against intrusion. Even Apolo cannot breach his wards."

"Staefyn is one Guerani," she told him. "And I have powers that far exceed his."

"You believe," he said.

She smiled. "I do not doubt my power, Amyr." He remembered the story of his sister reaching across galaxies at the moment of her birth to bond to their father and he did not doubt that she could penetrate Guerani Palace.

Taking his hand she led him into her chamber, and just inside, they sat on the floor facing each other in the doorway to the terrace. She instructed him to close his eyes, and because Amyr had never experienced Shamara's power, he was unprepared for the jolt that made his body go rigid when she placed her hands over his. He was startled to be drawn so quickly into a void where he saw nothing at first, and then it seemed as if he were on the other side of a window and he saw a door open and Quynn step through. She was gowned like a Calabrian imperial noble and followed by an older woman.

Amyr wondered if he could get her attention and he was about to speak or motion to her, but suddenly the door opened and he watched in fury as Staefyn stepped into the chamber and sent the older female out with a sharp command.

"I am tired, Staefyn," he heard Quynn say. When she turned to look at his brother, he saw a dark welt on her cheek and a line of blood from her nose. "Can we get this over quickly so I can get some sleep and you can go get whatever it is you get with that whore."

His heart leaped to his throat when Staefyn raised his hand to her cheek and leaned in, Amyr became tense to see him touching his mate although a rational part of his brain reminded him that he was healing her.

"How many times must I remind you not to bait my warlord?" he asked after her injuries disappeared.

She shrugged and stepped away. "And yet you do nothing to stop him."

Staefyn did not respond to her for a moment and then he closed the distance between them and despite her protest, he dragged her against him. Amyr moved restlessly until Shamara seized his wrist to stop him from doing anything that might draw Staefyn's attention to them.

Quynn suddenly became limp, and Staefyn swung her up in his arms to take her to the bed. Amyr feared that he would see his brother take advantage of her, but he stepped away from her and headed to the door where he stopped. He remained for a moment with his back to them, and then looked over his shoulder in the direction where Amyr stood with Shamara. "You should really give some warning before you invade another person's privacy."

Suddenly Shamara was at Staefyn's side. "What are you doing, Staefyn?"

"So you do have help," he said with a sneer. "I did not think you were powerful enough to do this on your own, brother. Why would you help him, Shamara? He is a selfish bastard."

"He is our brother," she argued. "I would help you as well, even after what you tried to do to mother. Just tell us what is making you do these things!"

Without responding, he left and closed the door.

Now Amyr found himself in the room with Quynn and he was momentarily disoriented. "Where am I?" he asked, hoping for an answer from Shamara.

"Staefyn has dropped his ward and we have entered his trance," she told him. "Speak to Quynn and be quick. He may change his mind and we do not want to be caught in the trance with him."

Amyr crossed the room to Quynn who was lying unconscious on the bed. He pulled her into his arms and held her close, knowing that they were not really here, that he was at Edgeland Fortress. But she stirred in his arms, and she sighed deeply as she burrowed her face into his neck.

"This is a wonderful dream."

Amyr thought so too, but Shamara was standing nearby and he had to speak to Quynn. "Wake up, Quynn."

Her lashes fluttered open and she looked around the room and then up at his face. "You know, Amyr, I was hoping that if you took me in a trance we could go some place romantic. Do I even see Shamara over there in the corner?" Quynn waved to her and Shamara waved back.

"Shamara helped me get here," he told her. "I would ask how you fare, but Staefyn gave us a little demonstration of his hospitality."

She murmured incomprehensibly as she rested her cheek against him. "I love you, Amyr." She raised her face to his. "Even when I told you I did not, when you were first bonded to me and I did not understand, I loved you then and I am so sorry for what I put you through."

Amyr frowned. "Why would you bring that up now?" He knew that Quynn had known nothing about what he was going through on Norvana. They had put that behind them along with the bond that had not been of their making.

"Because I truly understand now what you must have felt when we rescued you." He was helpless when she burst into tears and wept against his chest. Amyr looked at Shamara who shrugged.

After a moment of holding her in which he soothed her by stroking her back, he finally said, "Quynn, we have to go before Staefyn changes his mind about letting me speak to you."

She moved back to look up at him. "He has almost completely lost his mind, Amyr. He can scarcely control what he does. Warlord Kai and Lady Xuxa are pulling him apart."

"Lady Xuxa!" Amyr's exclamation was echoed by Shamara.

"You know of her?" asked Quynn. "She is a horrid woman!"

"What is she doing here?" Shamara moved closer.

"I don't know how or why, but Staefyn is her bonded mate."

Amyr looked at Shamara and saw his own horror mirrored in her eyes. "The woman is ancient! How could he do such a thing?"

Quynn seized his arm to gain his attention and she nodded to the door. Amyr could hear footsteps approaching. "He is coming back!"

Shamara hurried to Amyr. "We need to go." She grabbed Amyr and his body jerked to consciousness back in her chamber. Shamara was already pacing, wringing her hands. "This is awful, Amyr!"

"We have to tell mother and Apolo what we have learned."

Rising from the floor, he left her room and when he was on the terrace, he headed to the chamber at the far end where he knew his mother would be sleeping, but when he stepped in he found that she was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her brother facing her, their hands clasped.

Shamara had followed and when she saw them, she laughed softly. "Where and when do you think they are?"

Since he knew how moved she had been by Taeron's ballad, he could make a good guess and he wondered if he should disturb her, but their news was too important to wait.

"Touch them," he ordered Shamara.

She shook her head. "I am not entering my mother's trance!"

A movement behind him made Amyr turn to the entrance to the terrace and he saw Chaela creeping into the room. "What are you doing? Mother said not to disturb her."

"Wearen't disturbing her," Shamara hissed. "Don't talk so loud or she _will_ be disturbed."

"Is she in a trance?" Chaela moved to stand beside Amyr. "She looks so happy."

"So does Apolo," pointed out Shamara. "I don't think we will disturb anything we would rather not see."

"I am not disturbing her private time," Amyr insisted, and yet he was curious.

"I am!" Before either he or Shamara could stop her, Chaela put her hand on her mother's and she became still as she entered the trance.

Shamara shrugged and followed her example.

Sighing with resignation, Amyr touched them as well.

When he was oriented, he found himself standing with Chaela and Shamara behind a large tree and they were peaking around it, so he did as well. They were watching three children lying in a patch of flowers under another tree near a stream. Looking beyond them, Amyr saw the mountains, and turning around he could see Edgeland Fortress and hear instructors barking orders. The children could not be more than six or seven, and one of the boys looked a lot like Staefyn had when he was young, the other like Yori, and the girl could almost be Shamara, but Amyr knew exactly who they were.

His youthful mother suddenly sat up from the flowers. _"We should be practicing!"_ _She stomped away to gather three long sticks which she tossed at the boys._

 _"Ow!" The young Prince Trey rubbed his head and looked at Apolo who ignored the stick that she had dropped on his body as he lazily chewed on the stem of a flower, his eyes closed to the light of the suns. "Tell your sister that we did not come here to work!"_

 _"You never work!" Arora put herself in a defensive stance. "You cannot knock me down!"_

 _Trey shoved at Apolo with his foot. "Knock her down so we can continue with our nap!"_

 _Apolo took the stem from his mouth and said, "She wasn't challenging me." He started chewing on the stem again._

Shamara giggled. "Even then Apolo was lazy."

Amyr caught himself smiling and he heard Chaela snickering. He had never been able to imagine his parents as children together, and until he had heard Taeron sing of their love, he hadn't thought of them as young lovers either.

 _Arora poked Trey with the end of her stick. "Get up you lazy sand slug!"_

 _Trey kicked at her, but she quickly drew back and then poked at him again._

 _"By the gods, you impudent wench!" He leaped up from the bed of flowers and lunged at her._

 _"Don't call my sister a wench," Apolo said without opening his eyes, ignoring the grunts caused by the scuffle as Trey tried to wrest the stick from her hand, but when Arora fell on her back, her brother opened his eyes and turned to watch as Trey and Arora wrestled, both holding onto the stick in her hand, wrenching it back and forth until Arora knocked Trey away onto his own back._

 _Straddling him, she shoved the stick against his neck. "Do you yield?" She was panting from the exertion of their struggle._

 _Trey turned his head to look at Apolo. "What kind of imperial guard are you? She is hurting me!"_

 _Apolo reached for something crawling by and popped it into his mouth. "You should not have challenged her."_

 _Trey exploded with outrage. "I did not challenge her!"_

 _"You knew you could not best her," continued Apolo as if he had not heard him._

 _"Ha!" cried Arora with triumph. She leaned down until she was nose to nose with Trey. "You cannot best me. You heard Apolo!"_

 _Suddenly she raised her head and she turned it in the direction of the tree where they were watching. "Who is there?"_

And just as suddenly the trance ended with Amyr, Chaela and Shamara on their backsides on either side of the bed.

"I hope you have a good reason for interrupting my private moments," said their mother with a glare. Apolo was looking at them with amusement.

Chaela rubbed her head where she had bumped it on the floor. "I am just glad I did not see anything improper."

Her mother lifted her chin sanctimoniously. "There was never anything improper between your father and I."

Shamara cleared her throat and their mother's cheeks grew pink, knowing that she was the result of their improper interaction.

Apolo laughed as he left the bed. "Unless you want me to stay, sister, I told Larya I would come to bed before second sunrise. Your discussion at the table has me wondering if she might have a surprise waiting for me and I am eager to find out what it is."

"Wait!" Amyr put out his hand to stop him. "We have something important to tell you about Staefyn."

"You spoke to Staefyn?" Arora's hand flew to the middle of her chest and Amyr felt her anguish. "What did he tell you?"

"He did not tell us anything," Shamara told her.

"You were involved in this?" Apolo shook his head. "Shamara, when will you learn? You could have been in danger! Staefyn's wards are very strong."

"He let us through the wards," Shamara argued.

She told them that they had seen Staefyn healing Quynn the abuse of his warlord, that he had intentionally drawn them all into a trance of his making.

"You realize that he let you see what he wanted you to see, that he has complete control over Quynn, hence complete control over you."

Amyr was surprised to hear himself say, "I don't believe that, uncle. I think Staefyn needs our help."

"He brought Quynn into the trance," Shamara reminded them. "And she told us that Staefyn is trapped with a blood bond."

"A blood bond?" Arora was surprised. "How could we not know?"

"We never felt his powers," Apolo said. "But I suspected there was something wrong with him when he came of age. I have never seen the females react to Staefyn, but more importantly, he never pursued them as a healthy young male should."

"Ever?" asked Arora, her distress never more evident for the son who had lost his way.

"I am sorry, but not ever." Apolo reached out to take her hand. Amyr knew that his father had been trapped with a blood bond to his mother when they were but children, but they had fallen in love, would have even without the bond. There could be no possible way for the same to happen to Staefyn, not with that treacherous female.

His mother looked at them. "What female has done this to him?"

Amyr could not bring himself to say the name.

Shamara could not either, but she reached out to seize both Apolo's and Arora's hands to convey the information. Arora cried out in horror and snatched her hand away while Apolo made a sound of dismay.

"Zeno should have killed her," he finally said. "All these years I thought she was dead. I don't know how I am going to tell Larya that Xuxa is alive."

"When could she have done this?" asked Arora anxiously, now wringing her hands as if she were trying to clean filth from them. Amyr knew how she felt and could not imagine what Staefyn was suffering to be under the woman's power.

"Long ago," Apolo said with a sigh. "Probably before he came of age. You may be able to find some record in the archive of an instance when he was not closely guarded. The scribes that preceded Stryfe were not nearly as entertaining, but they were thorough."

"Taeron might remember something," suggested Shamara. "Did he not traipse behind you with Staefyn when you were younger?"

Amyr shrugged. "We will have to wait to ask him until we have returned to Imperia, and that won't be until father sends for us."

His mother was still wringing her hands and her strong aura forced her anxiety on everyone in the room. "I want to do something to help him now."

Fortunately Apolo was there to talk sense into her. "Arora, Staefyn is not in his right mind. He is under the influence of that wretched harridan and he has already tried to kill you once. If you try to contact him in a trance, he may use the opportunity to try again." When her shoulders slumped, he went to her and drew her into a comforting embrace. "Come with me. We can talk to Larya together about this."

Amyr was glad that Apolo would keep her with him because he did not trust her when she wanted so desperately to help her son.

Apolo raised her chin to meet her gaze, his own glowing golden. "You will listen to me on this, sister. I could not bear to face Trey to tell him that you will never return to him."

"We cannot even be certain that what Quynn told us is true or whether it is some story he put in her mind to garner sympathy," suggested Shamara, probably to give her mother some doubt, some hope.

By the time Arora left with Apolo, Amyr was sure that she would not try to contact Staefyn in a trance to reason with him or at least Apolo would prevent her. Staefyn could not be trusted and there was no way for them to know the truth when he could be manipulating them.

When he returned to his bed, the second sun had already risen and he was exhausted, but his thoughts were centered on Quynn and how the warlord was making her suffer. Staefyn could stop the Varoonyan bastard, but he was using her suffering to ease his own by using his healing powers. Amyr knew how pleasant it felt to heal another, but Staefyn's skill had given him a different pleasure, one that made Amyr want to wrap his hands around his neck and end his miserable existence.

But his violent thoughts melted away suddenly when his son snuggled against him, and he allowed the boy's innocent dreams to carry him to sleep.


	57. Chapter 57 Ambush on the road

**Chapter 57**

The change in her living arrangement that pleased Quynn most after meeting Lady Xuxa was the modest wardrobe that the other woman had provided her to replace the scandalous clothing Staefyn had insisted she wear. After the first morning when Quynn came to break the night's fast wearing one such garment, Vaedra came to her with an armful of gowns, feminine tunics and leggings that would cover her appropriately.

As she came to breakfast this morning wearing one of those sleeveless tunics and leggings, a pale golden color that complemented her as did all the garments she had been provided, she almost laughed to see Staefyn frown. He had not ogled her anyway when she wore the revealing attire since his mating bond prevented his interest in other females, but she guessed that he enjoyed making her feel helpless in the scraps of cloth he had insisted she wear.

Lady Xuxa gave her an approving nod. "Your appearance pleases me this morning, Lady Quynn." The woman spoke like a queen reigning over court.

Quynn took her seat opposite Staefyn who was sitting next to the older woman. He did not look at her, but he did not look at his mate either. "I appreciate your gift, Lady Xuxa." She could be polite this morning. "I had a wonderful dream last night."

She hadn't been sure if her dream had really been a dream and when Staefyn gave her a silent warning with his eyes, she had her suspicion confirmed. The dream had been a trance and she _had_ been with Amyr. Why had Staefyn allowed her to be with him? Dared she ask him to allow her to escape? By the sour expression on his face he had read her mind and was probably regretting his kind act. She doubted she could plan on any other visits from Amyr, not even with Shamara at his side.

Lady Xuxa's thin lips curved in a smile and she reached out to curl her long, bony fingers around Staefyn's. "I live my dream every day."

Quynn swallowed her revulsion, especially when Staefyn gave the elderly female a hot glance and she hoped they would wait until after breakfast to engage in the activity that kept them busy more frequently than a couple of teenagers without parental supervision. She wondered how Lady Xuxa could even handle a young man in her bed or wherever they chose to rut because neither seemed to care when and where they did. For that reason, Quynn remained in her room although Lady Xuxa gave her more freedom to move about in the palace.

Taking her eyes off them, she pushed around the grubs on her plate for a moment wishing she had a slice of buttered toast, a muffin, maybe some eggs and bacon. A steaming cup of coffee would be a nice addition instead of the tepid fruit juice that had a bitter aftertaste. The tea from Ulfynaeus would be glorious, but Amyr's orders to stop shipments of any kind meant she would have to go without along with everyone else until the emperor reconciled with his son and his imperial guard.

She was about to announce her intention to return to her room where she planned to spend the morning sleeping, perhaps recapturing her dream, but warlord Kai stepped onto the terrace. Did the temperature drop? She shivered all the same. She hoped he did not have a beating planned because she was in too good a mood to have him and his partner spoil it this morning. The Varoonyan glanced at her warily, made a wide berth around Staefyn and bowed to Lady Xuxa.

"I am delighted you have joined us, warlord. Do you care to eat?" She signaled to the young woman that had served their meal.

She moved forward to hold out her arm to the warlord. When Kai took it and brought her wrist to his mouth, Quynn looked away with disgust, but she heard the girl gasp and she winced at the noises he made as he drew in her blood. She caught Staefyn's expression and saw that he was as revolted as she was, but Lady Xuxa was smiling as she watched. After witnessing that, Quynn was not going to be able to eat anything. She rarely saw the warlord, but when she did, he did not fail to repel her before finding some excuse to strike her, although if Quynn were honest with herself, her mouth was usually to blame.

Although she was repulsed by him, it was not difficult for her to understand how a naïve young woman might be seduced by the handsome Varoonyan. On the return trip from Norvana when she was his captive audience, Kai had bragged about seducing Princess Dijana, how he had persuaded her to betray her people. Yet while he mocked the 'pitiful princess' he betrayed that his own feelings for her had grown out of control. He had grown obsessed with the woman whose innocence he had destroyed.

When he had his fill of the serving woman, he ordered her to await his pleasure in his chamber, and she wandered out as if not in control of her own actions, heading in the direction of the suite that was provided for his use. Quynn glanced at Kai and their eyes met briefly before he glanced at the collar and looked quickly away. If she did not have that collar she would blast him with an inferno spell that would consume him in seconds. But there was no way for her to remove the collar since it had been magically tied to Kai's life and at the moment it was uncomfortably hot against her neck.

Staefyn was frowning at her, his eyes on the collar, so she imagined the stones were bright.

Lady Xuxa smiled at Kai. "I heard that you met with your contacts at the fortress. Do you have news for us?"

"That bastard Taeron has returned to Imperia where the people cheered his success on Teralon." He ran his tongue over his lips and Quynn felt her stomach churn. "One day I will cross swords with him again, and after defeating him, I will drain him and then listen as he lies dying at my feet begging pitifully to spare his life."

Quynn thought the likelihood of him killing him was slim and even slimmer would be the odds of hearing Taeron beg him for his life. "I think you shall have some difficulty doing either of those things. My brother is not a pampered prince. He has earned his position."

Although he was obviously reluctant, he turned to look at Quynn. "I have already bested him thanks to my lovely Dijana. She brought him into our dream world and I nearly gutted him."

He had bragged of this before on the ship after he had awakened from what Quynn had thought was a very active dream. Carrinda had told her that Varoonyan masters could reach their thralls in their dreams if they were physically close enough, so Quynn knew he might be telling the truth when he told her of coming upon her brother and his mate in Dijana's dreams. If Taeron had been there, it was more likely that he had slipped into a trance that they had shared.

Quynn gave him a half smile. "Since he entered the imperial city amidst the adulation of all of Calabria, he is no worse for the experience of having crossed swords with you. Next time your Dijana might not be there to help you."

His eyes narrowed and she wished she had not mocked him. If Lady Xuxa did not speak to dispel the tension between them, he probably would have struck her.

"I don't know whether to be amused or revolted that Larya's bastard has risen so high in the empire," remarked the older woman. "In Zeno's day, Lord Prince Taeron would have been strangled at birth as a fatherless bastard."

"He has a father," remarked Staefyn, his gaze dark and dangerous as he looked at his mate. "You told me that my father had gotten him off that whore, Larya, but Lady Quynn told me that her own mother performed some test on his blood that satisfied Lord Duo."

Xuxa held his gaze. "Are you going to believe her?"

"Lord Duo denied him for too many years for him to suddenly accept him without proof."

Quynn could scarcely believe that Staefyn believed her. She looked at Xuxa to see her reaction. The older woman shrugged. "Believe what you will, Staefyn."

"Lady Trynity has no reason to lie," he argued.

"I do not like your tone," snapped Xuxa. She looked at Quynn and her soulless blue eyes chilled her as much as Kai's presence. "Do you think you can poison my mate with your lies?"

"I am not lying. My mother ran a genetic test on Taeron to prove that my father is also his. As for poisoning Staefyn, I think _you_ did that."

Staefyn flinched and Quynn saw that Lady Xuxa's fingernails were biting into his flesh where she held his hand. Then she relaxed and took a deep breath in an effort to control her anger and she did not speak until she had succeeded. "You have your mother's arrogance. She never knew how to shut her mouth." She leaned forward and the smile on her artificially colored lips sickened Quynn. "Did she ever tell anyone what Dax did to her? How often he did it?" She leaned back and Quynn checked the impulse to throw her food in her face. "And yet your mother continued to challenge him. Perhaps she enjoyed his domination. I doubt that sycophant Lord Duo can satisfy her."

"Lady Trynity is a kind woman," remarked Staefyn aloud, surprising Quynn with his defense. Hearing Lady Xuxa malign her parents was not new, but Staefyn speaking up as he did today certainly was.

Xuxa turned her gaze to him. "Do you lust for the human healer as well as her bastard daughter? Will you find some way to use your powers on her as well?"

Although he had been forgotten, Kai reminded them that he was still there by clearing his throat, and Quynn suspected that it was because he was uncomfortable with talk of magic. She smiled as she thought of how Kai was going to fall to Taeron's sword and she hoped she could have a front row seat to watch as he cowered from her brother's holy magic.

"Upon my return from Imperia, I discovered that the Guerani sorcerers are at Edgeland Fortress. I tried to find a way inside, but it is secure."

"Which sorcerers?" asked Xuxa with interest.

"Along with Apolo, my mother, my sisters Shamara and Chaela, my brother Amyr and his son Yori," answered Staefyn calmly although Xuxa spun to look at him furiously.

"You did not tell me that whore had returned from Bayman!" Xuxa snatched her hand from Staefyn and Quynn could not tell if he was relieved or dismayed to lose contact with her. "I want her dead! Are you not strong enough to enter her dreams to kill her?"

Quynn was horrified at the suggestion.

Staefyn shrugged and turned his attention to his food. "I do not enter dreams and I am not willing to try to kill her in a trance." Then he raised his gaze to his fuming mate. "You underestimate my mother. Do you not remember that she took Dax into her trance and that he did not leave it alive? And he had been possessed by the being Camridaeus, so what chance would I, alone, have, especially after trying to kill her once already?"

Lady Xuxa slammed her hands on the table and she rose, unsteady in her anger. "You tried to kill her? Are you taking credit for that now when you could not do as I asked you that day? You are a worthless mate! I would have been better off bonding that bastard Taeron!" Then she left the room, her long skirt swirling behind her like a snake's tail.

There was silence after her departure for a moment before Kai spoke. "I left a squadron of battle thralls behind to ambush them when they head to Imperia. In the meantime, there is a village on the eastern slope of the mountain that I have not yet paid a visit to. I may be able to cull a few of the men for our cause. Will you join me?" The tone of his question suggested that he would rather not be burdened with the company of the Guerani sorcerer.

Staefyn snorted. "I will be busy." His lips twisted in disgust as he stared at the door through which Xuxa had exited. "Very busy."

Kai turned his reluctant attention to Quynn. "Are you enjoying your stay?"

She smiled at him and reached up to finger the collar. "How sweet of you to ask!"

The stones were hot and she could feel her skin burning, but it was worth it to see Kai's gaze widen with fear. He stood abruptly, and nodding to Staefyn, he hurried away.

Chuckling, Staefyn reached out to snag her hand, and when he blew across her fingers, his breath was cool and her blistered skin healed instantly.

"That is a nice trick," she remarked with a sigh, wondering if there was hope for Staefyn.

"No," he said in answer to her unspoken question. "There is no hope." He came close to her and she knew that he could heal her with his touch, but he leaned in so that his lips were almost touching the flesh of her neck and she almost moaned from how good it felt for him to blow his healing breath where the collar had burned her.

He then sat back in his chair and she could see that he had felt pleasure from the experience as well and it spoiled her own.

"You are a strong healer," she remarked when she was able to speak.

"That is why I am a disappointment to her," he responded. "I could not even kill Amyr when I had the chance. You cannot begin to imagine what she made me suffer for that debacle."

She looked at the doorway to be sure that the old female was not skulking nearby, then back to Staefyn. "What did she mean by what she said? How could she have chosen Taeron? When did she do this to you?"

He did not answer at first as he silently contemplated his untouched plate of food, and then he met her gaze. "I will not speak of this now. She will expect me to come to her." His gaze dropped as he stood. "I have to go to her. I need her."

Quynn did not want to feel any sympathy for him, but she did as she watched him leave in the direction Xuxa had taken. He was a handsome young man who had grown up among people that loved him, whose strong healing magic should be used to help others, but he had been twisted by that horrible woman, a woman who hated everyone he loved, who was destroying him day after day in her need for revenge. She hoped that he was wrong, that it was not too late to save him.

Two days after Taeron had gone, the communications system was restored and one of the first messages received at Edgeland Fortress was the request for Amyr to come to Imperia to meet his father. So on the following day, Amyr, along with his sisters, mother and son headed out after second sunrise. Apolo had provided an escort for the journey which would take the next two days on horseback because the transport had not returned after taking Taeron to the city. Amyr's mother did not want to wait any longer, and against his advice, arranged for them to leave that morning so that she could be with her husband as soon as possible to tell him what they had learned about Staefyn.

The first day of travel was uneventful and they camped at a pleasant grove near a stream where they found plenty of food. Yori had been excited by the journey and after the meal, as they sat around the campfire, he entertained them with stories about his time on Norvana, particularly about his adventures with the hunters. Amyr sensed that he missed the close-knit group among whom he had spent the first years of his life, but he understood that they had betrayed his mother. He was saddened that his son had learned so early that even people you thought of as family could not be trusted. Even worse, he was aware that even family could turn against him.

The following day, after several hours of travel, their group was attacked on the main road cutting through the plains between Edgeland Fortress and Imperia at nearly the same point where Amyr remembered being attacked a few months ago after clearing out the thralls from the fortress. The imperial city was barely visible on the horizon, so Amyr knew they could not expect help. They were outnumbered by the large force of battle thralls, but Staefyn's men were poorly trained when they hadn't been possessed by warlord Kai and becoming possessed by the Varoonyan had not improved their skills.

Amyr charged with the first wave of men to attack the onslaught, leaving his family behind with a couple dozen men to protect them. He tried not to take his mind off the hacking and slashing at the mindless creatures with red eyes with the sword Apolo had provided for him, but when he saw two more forces bearing down on them from different directions, he worried about his family and earned a slash across his back because of the distraction. The pain was excruciating, but he fought on, knowing that he had to push back these men before he could return to help the females.

He should not have underestimated the woman that had given him life. Once again she showed him a side to her that he had never seen. Amyr was amazed when she drew her own sword to rally the men of her guard who were facing insurmountable odds. But with the females leading them, the remaining imperials followed her charge into battle. Amyr had no time to worry about what he would say to his father if he had to bring his mother's lifeless body back. The press of mindless thralls was overwhelming and he could see the dust cloud kicked up by another force from another direction.

"Shamara!" The battle cry was echoed as it rose over the pounding hooves of the mounts racing towards the battle and Amyr was bolstered by the streak of gold that disappeared into the dark mass, two swords swinging, their blades turning the thralls to dust.

Amyr did not know how Taeron could have known they were coming or that they would be in danger, but he gave a silent thanks to the gods that he brought his imperials joined with Darlac and his men. The battle raged until the setting of the first sun when the last of the thralls fell to his mother's sword. Because they were too far away to reach the city before dawn and she wanted to treat the injured, she ordered her men to make camp at the stream they had followed west to Imperia. As Amyr joined her and his sisters in healing the men who had injuries, Taeron and Darlac supervised the burning of the corpses of both the thralls and the imperials that had been killed in the battle, collecting their swords to be returned to their houses.

Yori was horrified by the carnage, but it was not the first battle he had witnessed and it would probably not be the last. When they had set out that morning, Amyr had no objection to his riding on the horse with his grandmother, and he was chagrined to realize that Yori had remained with her as she fought. Amyr found him at the stream with Chaela who was washing the gore that had splattered him when his grandmother used her sword to butcher the mindless thralls.

"You are injured," Chaela observed as she used the hem of her own tunic to wipe the dark blood from Yori's face. "Go to Shamara for healing. I am too exhausted."

"Is Yori unharmed?" he asked.

"Grandmother kept me safe," Yori said and demonstrated by bringing up a glowing shield. "I helped."

Shaking his head in amazement at his mother's power and that of his son, he left Yori in Chaela's capable hands and went in search of his mother or Shamara. He found them both standing with Taeron, and Amyr almost expected Taeron to scold him for not preparing adequately for the trip, but Taeron's frown eased when he saw him and as he grasped his forearm and pulled him into a hug, Amyr winced with pain.

"You are injured," observed his mother. Now Amyr saw that she appeared exhausted and he knew that she had probably used the last of her power in healing the wounded, especially after maintaining a shield to protect the grandson who had clung to her during battle.

Shamara moved behind Amyr to inspect his wound. "Did you not shield yourself, Amyr?"

He did not want to admit that he had not thought of it, but then why should he? His powers were still new to him. His mother and sister had theirs from birth, so they knew how to use them in battle by instinct.

"You fought well," Taeron told him and he was mollified by his praise. "We came as soon as we received word that there would be an ambush."

Amyr was going to ask how he knew, but his mother answered. "Taeron told me that Staefyn called to brag about how he was going to leave your bloody corpse in the road to be spit upon by imperials that know the truth of your birth."

Frowning, he looked at his mother. "Why does he believe that lie?"

"Because of who is giving him the information," she told him. She shook her head and put her hand on his arm. "I know that you are angered by his words, but you have missed the significance of his ridiculous display of arrogance."

Amyr could not think of anything but how he would like to beat Staefyn senseless although he knew he never could.

"He called me this morning," Taeron told him. "I had enough time to gather the men to ride out to meet you."

"Staefyn is trying to break free of her!" his mother exclaimed. Amyr wished he could feel as confident as she did that Staefyn was anything but vindictive and that his call was nothing more than ill-planned boasting.

Shamara put her arms around her mother's shoulders. "You know that is impossible and so does he. He was not warning Taeron. He is a fool that does not know how to keep his mouth shut."

"And if he was warning me, and if Kai and Lady Xuxa are controlling him," Taeron pointed out, "he will be in danger from ruining their plans today."

Remembering how frantic Quynn had been about Lady Xuxa's influence over Staefyn, Amyr would not want to be his brother when his mate held the means to torture him.

They had not planned to stop before reaching the city although it would have taken the entire day to do so, so they were not prepared to spend the night in the open under the moons. Taeron ordered the men to forage for food while Amyr and Darlac organized the warriors into guard duty as well as scouting the countryside for any more of Kai's forces. By the time the second moon rose, Amyr had time to settle down at the campfire where his mother was cradling his sleeping son in her arms. He had seen her feeding him earlier with whatever Taeron left for them before leaving to confer with Darlac.

"We are fortunate that Taeron came," remarked his mother softly. Her smile wavered with exhaustion. "He reminded me of Duo, coming out of nowhere to save my life." Now she turned to look at Amyr and in the light of the fire he could see that her smile had faded. "I never told Trey and I made Duo swear to me never to speak of it, but the night you were born, I almost lost the palace to assault by house Caron."

Because her defense of the palace and the imperial city was a remarkable feat in Calabrian history, Amyr was surprised to hear her account.

"The battle began in the afternoon after Duo had gone out on patrol, expecting to meet your father," she continued. "We all knew that you would be born that day, our son and his potential heir, and he was on his way to be with me, but Caron and Meridon had made a pact to stop him. Caron had planned to challenge Trey for control of the empire and knew that my death would break him."

Taeron returned to sit and he must have heard what she said because he remarked, "Stryfe is going to regret not being here to hear what you have to say."

Amyr sighed. "He is going to ask so many questions about the battle on our return as it is."

Chaela sat near Taeron and she handed him a large leaf on which rested many beetles that made Amyr's mouth water. "I thought you might like something to eat, my lord prince."

Amyr raised a brow and he caught Shamara smiling as Taeron frowned. "Not you too, Chaela," muttered Taeron. "I have been tripping over females since the sun rose this morning. I was glad for the excuse to leave Imperia."

"Chaela, do not bother Taeron," Arora scolded her daughter. "You know that his heart is engaged elsewhere."

"I know," she sighed, "but I cannot help it. There is something about him that makes him suddenly so appealing."

"His golden glow?" Yori's head popped out from inside his grandmother's cloak.

Shamara laughed when Taeron muttered a curse about his golden glow. "No, Yori, it is something very different. Some day you will understand."

Amyr looked back at his mother. "What happened the night that I was born?"

She sighed deeply. "I was tired from fighting all day, and I was injured because I could not keep up my shield, not when I expended so much energy trying to keep you safe as you struggled to come into the world. Caron and his men had trapped us in the royal chamber, and we fought for our lives, but soon enough the few warriors remaining to me were dead around me and I stood with only my sword between me and a dozen men. I could barely stand."

"Mother, this story is upsetting you," said Chaela, her own voice emotional and Amyr felt the tendrils of his mother's feelings creeping into him as well.

Yori reached up to wipe the tears that had spilled over her lashes onto her cheeks. "Do not cry, grandmother."

"I am sorry, but I felt that hopelessness today, that feeling that I did not want to die without seeing Trey again." She reached out to take Taeron's hand to squeeze. "Caron wrenched the sword from my hand and struck my face with his fist before he ..." She paused to gulp a breath and Amyr's body shuddered with the horror she must have felt. He could see that his sisters were equally affected by the feelings her memories brought out. "He held my own imperial blade to my throat and I could see in his eyes that he was going to cut off my head with the sword Trey had given me."

She squeezed Taeron's hand again, "Suddenly Duo dived into the room from the window closest to us as dozens of his men poured in from the others and before Caron could even draw a breath, his own head was rolling on the floor, his blood drenching me where I had knelt before him ready to die."

"My father never spoke of it," Taeron told her. Amyr could see that Taeron adored his mother every bit as much as he adored his own, and when she caressed his face, Amyr was surprised that he did not feel jealous as he once had when she would show him affection. Taeron had always been a part of his life and he understood now more than before why his parents had taken him into their lives. Duo had saved her life and she repaid him by raising his son.

"Duo carried me to my bed and he could have gone for help, but he stayed with me to bring you into this world, Amyr." Now she smiled at him. "You can not know how much joy I feel to know that you have taken his beloved daughter as your mate and that the two of you have given us this precious child." She leaned down to kiss the top of Yori's head. "As much as we would not wish to admit it, Staefyn had a hand in that, whether he foresaw it or not."

Darlac was standing several paces away and he must have been listening because he said, "My father was led to believe that Prince Dilan sired Prince Amyr." He was silent for a moment, then he said, "The old woman in the hills spread her poisonous lies, and the clans believed her. We had all made vows to Zeno and his line and could not allow one not of his blood to take his throne."

"Xuxa must have been that woman," murmured Arora. "There can be no other."

"I do not know who she was, for I was a only a child, but my father claimed that she had been in a position to know the truth. The houseless female stayed long enough for a meal of scraps and to tell her story, then she disappeared into the night."

"By the gods!" snarled Amyr furiously. "How can Staefyn have taken her as his mate? What grub is eating his brain?"

"The same grub that eats the brain of any male that has bonded to a female," his mother said. "He has no choice in what he does now."

"Nor do we," said Taeron.

"If we can separate him from her..."

"Mother," admonished Shamara. "You surely know she must have gotten the bond long ago if Staefyn has done all that he has since even before the attack on Teralon. He has been her mate at least seven years if not longer, and you heard Apolo say that females have never reacted to him as Chaela has to Taeron."

"We will have Stryfe study the archives," Amyr said. "I doubt he will find any record of Staefyn dallying with an old crone because we never would have forgotten that. If I had known, I would have teased him mercilessly."

Taeron scowled at him. "You were never very nice to him anyway. I had to stay back with him countless times when you left us behind if he stumbled."

"He was clumsy," remarked Chaela. "I did not think he would ever make it through imperial training." Then she glanced at Amyr. "He did a better job than you."

"With Taeron's help," Amyr pointed out before shrugging. "The gods had other plans for me."

"The gods have plans for us all," said Arora. "Their plan now is for us to get some sleep. Come sleep by me, Amyr, and help me keep your son warm." She glanced at Chaela as Amyr moved towards her. "Stay away from Taeron."

Chaela moved to Shamara who held open her cloak to invite her to share her warmth. "Who is going to keep Taeron warm?"

"My golden glow," grumbled Taeron as he pulled his cloak around himself and lay on the ground.


	58. Chapter 58 The emperor's welcome

**Chapter 58**

They were not attacked during the night and after taking their first meal with food the men had harvested during the night, they headed out before second sunrise. Arora was content to ride among Meridon's men, cloaked in black along with Shamara who also hid because her father would guess that his mate had returned if he saw her. For part of the trip Taeron rode beside Arora and Amyr knew Taeron was telling her how her husband was feeling. When she brought up the ballad he had sung, Taeron shot Amyr a dark look before turning his attention to his mother, and he leaned closer to hear whatever she said so Amyr was not privy until Taeron left his mother's side and joined Amyr at the head of the returning army along with Darlac.

"Your mother wants me to sing for your father tonight."

Amyr glanced at him. "You do not wish to?"

"After Stryfe told him of the courtship, he said he would like to hear the song, but I have not had the chance to perform for him." Taeron told him. "I am honored that your mother has asked me."

They rode in silence for several minutes before Taeron spoke again. "Shamara told me that you saw Quynn and that Kai is abusing her."

"I tried to reach her last night," he admitted to Taeron, his voice low so that his mother and sisters could not hear. "He let me see her sleeping soundly and she appeared to be unharmed."

"Your mother believes he can be helped. What do _you_ believe?" asked Taeron.

Amyr was torn between believing that Staefyn was helping and that he was mocking him. The Staefyn that helped them was not the same Staefyn that had tried to kill their mother or sent Varoonyan gliders after their ship in an attempt to shoot them down in space. He had purchased Quynn as if she were chattel in opposition to the dictates of their father who forbade slavery among the worlds over which he had dominion. His mother wanted to believe her son could be reformed, but after everything Staefyn had done or sanctioned, Amyr could not, would not trust him.

When they reached the gates to the city, Taeron instructed Amyr to wait with Chaela and an escort until he had a chance to inform their father of their arrival. Arora and Shamara entered the city along with Darlac's men, disguised in dark clothing, wearing hooded cloaks that hid them well. Amyr did not envy Taeron the task of informing the families of those that had lost their lives in the battle against warlord Kai's thralls, but Taeron already had experience in such matters after returning from Varoonya.

As he waited with Chaela, he felt her anxiety for what she would say to their father about what happened on Teralon, so he reached out to take her hand, to reassure her that he would stay by her side if she needed support. She held Yori before her on her horse, but when Taeron returned with the news that the emperor would meet them, Chaela handed Yori to Amyr because she did not want their father to think that she had brought Kaerwen home. Stryfe had agreed not to tell the emperor because they all agreed that hearing of it from the scribe would be a poor way for him to learn of his grandson's death.

As they moved through the streets on their horses, men stopped working at their shops, children came to them as close as they dared, their eyes round with awe, and women jostled each other to draw the notice of any of the unmated males in the escort. More than one pretty female came to press flowers into Taeron's hands and he took them politely with the gift of a smile that made the females who dared touch the lord prince nearly swoon with joy. Amyr marveled at Taeron's tact, and he remembered with shame how he would not have hesitated to seduce the females of such low station.

At the foot of the steps leading up to the palace, Amyr and Chaela dismounted after Taeron who sent the escort on its way with words of thanks and praise for their protection. Amyr could see that Taeron's words pleased them and he wondered if he ever could have commanded the men with the effortless skill that Taeron did.

He expected Taeron to mount the steps, but he waited and put out his arm to prevent Amyr from advancing. Amyr was about to ask him why they waited, but then he was stunned to see his father step out of the palace. The emperor of Calabria did not often appear in public, so his appearance brought all action beneath the palace to a standstill, all conversations and all movement in the busy plaza stopped as everyone, man, woman and child alike turned to face the most powerful man in the binary system.

Emperor Trey moved slowly down the steps, the dark cloak he wore over his ornate tunic rippling out behind him, the metal of his long sword glinting behind him as the jewels in the hilt caught the sunlight. Amyr thought that his father knew how to make an entrance, and he was causing a stir now as he approached him.

"What have you brought to me, my lord prince Taeron?" his deep voice asked.

Taeron dropped to a knee before him and bowed his head. "I present to you Prince Amyr for your consideration as my imperial guard, and I return Lady Princess Chaela to you."

Amyr dropped to his knee now, wondering as he did if he had ever shown his father this respect, and he saw Chaela do the same. As he knelt with his head bowed, he waited anxiously for his father to speak and he suppressed the urge to take Chaela's hand.

Then he felt a hand on his head and feeling Yori stir beside him Amyr glanced to the side to see that his father had put his hand under his son's chin to raise his face up to him. Looking from his son to his father, Amyr was surprised to see that his mossy green eyes were glistening with unshed tears as he looked down at Yori.

But then he looked at Amyr. "Is this what you want, my son? I would return you to your position if you but ask."

Amyr did not have to think about his answer. "I would be honored to serve Lord Prince Taeron." He hoped that his father was not disappointed in his decision.

But the emperor's hand moved from his head to caress his cheek. "You have become wise, my son." Then he glanced briefly at Taeron before facing Amyr again. "I have heard much of your actions on Teralon, Amyr." He then held out his hand to Taeron who handed the emperor a sword and scabbard that Amyr had never seen before. The stones were from both his father's and Lord Duo's house, and now his father presented held it out to him.

"You know that I cannot confirm you as Taeron's imperial guard although you may continue to act as such. That is for your mother to do. However, I can and do proclaim you warlord."

Amyr had not expected the honor, and he turned to see Taeron grinning with the pride he should feel after having trained him so diligently. He looked back at his father. "I am honored."

Trey leaned down to touch his forehead to Amyr's. " _I_ am honored, my son."

Yori chose that moment to raise his innocent face to the emperor. "Are you my other grandfather?"

Trey lifted his head to meet Amyr's gaze and Amyr said, "You know that this is my son. You may deny him or not, father, but I will not."

"You are in a position to know." His gaze went to Amyr's hands, and when he reached out to take one, Amyr felt how sorry his father was for how he had treated him and how proud he was of the man that Amyr had become. When he released him, he reached down to scoop Yori up to ride upon his hip before he looked at Chaela.

"You are welcome to return to my home, daughter." He stepped to look around her, oblivious to her trembling body. "Where is Kaerwen hiding?"

Chaela could not speak, but tears filled her eyes as she stared at her father holding Yori. Trey seemed to realize the reason for her sorrow because he gently handed Yori over to Amyr and he took Chaela into his arms where she wept against his chest before he lifted her and turned to walk into the palace with her. The considerable crowd that had gathered watched in silence as the emperor climbed the steps with the sounds of his daughter sobbing muffled against him. Amyr sensed their approval for their emperor.

"Very moving, princelings."

Amyr saw Stryfe leaning against a pillar on the topmost step. He followed Taeron up to greet the scribe. "Was I sufficiently humble?"

"Not so many months ago I would have said it was impossible for you to be humble." Stryfe looked at Taeron. "I received a message asking to meet you and Amyr, that you wished for me to research the archives for something."

Taeron frowned. "Are there any females in that wing of the palace?"

Stryfe laughed and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "Females? In the archives? What would they want there?"

"Then I would rather be in your dusty archive than passing through the hall before the receiving room," grumbled his brother.

Stryfe laughed and turned to lead them to a side door. "Not feeling up to another ambush from Keilana of house Caron?"

Taeron exchanged a look with Amyr before he said, "Not today." After hearing what Caron had almost done to his mother, Amyr did not want to see anyone from that house either.

They headed in the direction of the archives which were set far from the receiving hall and the living quarters. As they went, Amyr pointed out the rooms of the palace to Yori, remembering aloud some innocuous escapades when he was a small boy that had angered his father. He would rather Yori waited until he was older before he heard the other stories that had infuriated and disappointed him. Yori had not been happy to leave Jeshed at Ulfynaeus so he was missing him as much as Amyr who thought the shapeshifter nursemaid would be useful now to take Yori somewhere comfortable to nap. As they looked at the scrolls that Stryfe brought out from the many shelves behind his work area, a table set by the windows to catch the light of the suns, Yori soon grew bored and curled up on a pile of discarded parchments, and because he was still exhausted from travel, he fell quickly asleep.

Taeron and Amyr were of little help to Stryfe being that neither had learned to read well, Amyr because of his laziness and Taeron because he preferred his training. They were joined a few hours into the search through years of dry accounts of the imperial family's activities by Shamara and Arora who had entered the palace with Darlac's help, both still clothed in black. His mother hugged him and Amyr was glad that she was not disappointed for his choice not to take back his position as crown prince.

"What am I looking for again?" asked Stryfe with exasperation as he rolled up another scroll.

"Anything that might have interested your predecessor enough about Staefyn to record," Arora told him.

"Mother, don't you remember anything?" asked Shamara as she set aside a scroll.

"Nothing more than I would have expected. I was very close to Apolo before he reached the age when he realized the delights of female companionship other than his sister's. Amyr was the same, so when Staefyn withdrew from me, I was not surprised." She tapped a rolled scroll against the palm of her hand. "Staefyn might not even know how he was trapped by that creature."

"I have found something," Stryfe announced as he studied a scroll. "Several years ago Prince Staefyn's personal guard reported that he demanded frequent visits to the Guerani Hills, but the scribe attributed it to spiritual guidance."

Amyr snorted. "I doubt there was anything spiritual in the guidance Xuxa was giving him in the hills."

His mother frowned at him. "Did you ever speak to him about females? You certainly led enough females in Taeron's direction that I cannot believe you did not take it upon yourself to train your little brother."

"Mother!" exclaimed Shamara in shock. "You knew about his dalliances?"

"Who did not?" she asked wryly.

Amyr suppressed the urge to laugh at the aggravated look on Shamara's face. "Staefyn was not interested in females," Amyr told his mother with a shrug. "In fact, Taeron and Staefyn seemed to compete to see who could dampen any pleasure I could find. There was one particular female..."

"Your mother does not wish to hear about any of your particular females," Taeron interrupted him.

"There are a few scrolls dedicated to his exploits in those areas," Stryfe said with a smirk. "I think my predecessor had a prurient interest in the development of the crown prince. I think it best that Quynn not read them."

"I don't have any secrets from her," Amyr said. Quynn was not pleased about his past, but Amyr could do nothing to change it.

"If he was not interested in females, perhaps he had been bonded as a child," suggested Shamara. "Mother, you and father were bonded as children but he did not feel its effects until he had come of age."

"Now I have to read about the antics of the imperial children?" Stryfe threw up his hands and stomped into his backroom, and Amyr exchanged a smile with Taeron as they listened to him grumble about reading the accounts of runny noses, upset stomachs and the regularity of bowel movements.

His mother took the opportunity to take Taeron aside so that she could plan her surprise for her husband, so that left Amyr with Shamara who was frowning at him. "What did I do wrong now?"

"I remember how cruel you were to Taeron and Staefyn. You forced them to follow you everywhere when you were children."

"I did not force them to do anything," Amyr argued. He remembered it quite differently. Taeron and Staefyn were younger and he had been infuriated to have to spend any time with the sniveling brats. If Amyr hadn't been so demanding of Taeron's time, Taeron would have been Staefyn's friend and Amyr would never abide that, first because Staefyn liked Taeron and so Amyr wanted him to himself and second because of Taeron's link to Lord Duo.

"You were very selfish," remarked Shamara, reading his thoughts.

"You think I am no longer selfish?"

"Yori has changed you."

Amyr glanced at his sleeping child and knew that she was right. Until he accepted responsibility for his son, he had not thought of anyone but himself.

"I found something," Stryfe announced with triumph as he held a scroll. "There is an account of a visit to the Guerani hills that the boys took with Apolo when Amyr was but ten and Taeron and Staefyn were eight."

"That would have been the year that Cerisae was born," commented Arora. "I wanted the boys to go to the second moon, but Apolo invited Amyr to go with him in the hope that his powers would manifest in the sacred hills, so Shamara, Chaela and Ginaesa went to the second moon with Trey's mother and Apolo took the boys so that I could devote myself to my newborn."

"I was always glad to get away when you presented my father with another screaming baby," remarked Amyr which earned him a jab in the ribs from his sister.

His mother smirked at him. "You will be with Quynn when she brings your children into the world and then you will have no escape from screaming babies."

Stryfe cleared his throat. "After all the dust I have had to breathe in, the least you could do is listen. If these accounts were digitally recorded, I could have had this done already with a simple search."

"What did you find?" asked Taeron impatiently.

His brother looked at him. "The scribe wrote that Apolo took you boys into the forest hoping that the Guerani spirits would speak to Amyr. Lord Apolo stumbled across a group of females from one of the clans at a pond who were washing clothing and he stopped to questioned them about their clan."

Amyr laughed. "They were not doing the laundry and he did not stop because he wanted to question them. They were bathing. I remember that day well. Taeron and Staefyn were angry because Apolo did not want to leave, and I had to go with them."

"So my brother was lying to the scribe and leaving my sons unsupervised so that he could cavort with naked females?" Arora made a sound of exasperation. "I am not surprised!"

"Since I was in charge, I made them follow me. Taeron did as I asked, but Staefyn was a pestilence even then, demanding to go this way and that way, and finally I decided the gods could help him find his own way." When his mother glared at him, Amyr shrugged. There was nothing he could do now to change the past.

"When I realized Staefyn wasn't following me," Taeron said, now thoughtful as he remembered the incident. "I told Amyr that I was going to look for him and he had a tantrum."

"I did not have a tantrum," argued Amyr and seeing Taeron's raised brow he felt his cheeks heat. "Well, I supposed I did call Taeron and Staefyn a few unkind names, but I was older and they should have listened to me."

Arora looked at Taeron. "You found Staefyn?"

"I thought I had been looking for hours and I was worried that I became lost, but I heard him crying and I saw that he had slipped and fallen into a gully."

"That is not in the account," said Stryfe with a sigh. "I shall have to rewrite it now. The scribe reported that the boys became separated and that Prince Amyr returned to Lord Apolo without them. Lord Apolo then located Taeron and Staefyn using his Guerani senses."

Taeron was frowning, his forehead wrinkled in deep concentration for several moments before he said, "I do not remember what happened after I discovered where Staefyn had gone."

Setting aside a scroll that she had been looking at, Arora went to Taeron who held out his hands to her. When she took them, everyone watched her close her eyes and after a moment her brows drew together before she opened them. "His memories have been blocked. We cannot know when Staefyn did it, but I am quite sure my brother did not do it to cover up for his own foolish behavior."

"He would have blocked my memory instead," commented Amyr with a chuckle. "When I went back to the pond to tell him that I lost those two brats, he was getting a thorough bath by the four lovely young women. At the time I didn't understand why he would want to bathe, but now ..."

"That is quite enough," his mother cut him off. "I know my brother well enough. As for Taeron, if the three of us who are Guerani..."

"Four." They had not noticed that Chaela had entered the archive. Her eyes were puffy but Amyr could feel that she was at peace.

Their mother went to her to hold her in her arms. "You see, you had nothing to fear from your father."

"He understood why I went with Avar when he offered me a choice, and while he sensed that all was not well, he would not interfere in the life I had made on Teralon. I fear that he blames himself for not acting on his intuition regarding Avar, but he could not have known the outcome." She reached up to wipe the tears from her lashes. "Will I ever cease to cry?"

Arora kissed her forehead. "The pain will ease, Chaela, but it will always be there. Kaerwen was a part of you that was cruelly taken away."

Taking a deep breath, Chaela stepped away from her. "I left father beset by males demanding that the lord prince consider females of their houses." She smiled at Taeron. "He asked me if I would like for him to put forth my name."

When Taeron looked stunned, Amyr put his hand on his shoulder. "Now you will have a permanent place in our house."

"Chaela," warned her mother. "Do not tease Taeron."

Chaela stretched up to kiss Taeron's cheek. "I love you dearly, Taeron, but as a brother. I doubt the females vying to be your mate have the same feelings." She looked at her mother. "What were you about to do to him?"

Arora explained what they had discovered and Chaela was willing to help and while they wanted to find out exactly what happened to Staefyn, Amyr did not think it would absolve him of guilt in what he had done since then. Shamara warned Taeron that they would have complete access to his memories, but his only request was that they not disturb his memories of Dijana. Both Amyr and Chaela had offered to do so when they left Teralon, but Taeron would not give up hope that Dijana would come to her senses.

So they went to the farthest corner of the archives where they would be assured of privacy, and with Stryfe watching and listening carefully, they sat cross-legged on the floor in a semi-circle around Taeron who held out his hands palm up. Arora took Chaela's hand as Shamara took Amyr's and while Arora took one of Taeron's hands, Shamara took the other. Even before he took Chaela's hand to complete the circle, Amyr could feel the air crackling around them and when he curled Chaela's smaller hand in his own, he was almost thrown back by the force of the power that flowed between them. Taeron's head lolled back, and for a moment Amyr was afraid for him, but his mother warned him not to break the circle, that Taeron was unharmed.

Amyr did not know what he expected, but the intrusion into Taeron's memories was more painful than he could have imagined. Together they paged through the thoughts and feelings that made Taeron who he was, the pain and the rejection were barely tempered by the love of his mother, the emperor and his wife. Because the memory they sought was long ago, they dug through his childhood and Amyr was disgusted to see himself in Taeron's eyes. He had threatened him again and again to have him sent away in shame if he did not do one menial task after another, and each time he did, Taeron was so terrified of losing his family that he did not question Amyr.

His mother sent a calm warning to him, so Amyr began to look upon this experience as his punishment for all that he had done to an orphaned boy whose father rejected him and whose mother was an outcast. Taeron's memories of his mother were heart-rending because Larya's love for him was so overwhelming that when they were parted for his return to the imperial palace after his visits, he had difficulty dealing with his grief at losing her, fearing that he would never see her again. Having overheard whispers about Taeron's mother, Amyr had never been sympathetic to Taeron but now he was drowning in compassion for him.

So when they finally came to the day they sought, Amyr wasn't surprised to hear himself calling Taeron a foolish bastard to his back as he hurried away to look for Staefyn.

 _The words had hurt Taeron deeply, but he hurried in the direction where Staefyn had disappeared and he began to feel panic for Staefyn when he could not find him until he remembered one of Apolo's lessons on tracking. Soon he found signs of Staefyn's passing and when he came to a deep crevice that had once been a stream bed, he saw Staefyn's footprints in the mud and he saw with horror that the edge had dropped away._

 _"Staefyn!" He waited for several tense moments, angry at the birds for making noise and the insects for buzzing in his ear. But he heard Staefyn whimpering and he was relieved that he was still alive._

 _"Staefyn!"_

 _"Taeron? Is that you?" Staefyn stopped sobbing long enough to call out to him, but he sounded so far away._

 _"I will go get help!" But as he looked around, Taeron had a sudden fear that he would never be able to find this place again._

 _"Don't leave!" cried Staefyn and he began to weep._

 _Taeron's heart ached and he did not know what to do, but he could not leave Staefyn alone. He was probably hurt and a canyon beast might find him, so Taeron made the decision before he put too much thought into it because there were so many reasons why it was the wrong decision. "I am coming down to help you."_

 _Staefyn continued to cry, each sniffle more wrenching than the last, but Taeron managed to calm his own fear as well as ignore Staefyn's. Crawling to the edge of the unstable crevice on his belly, he could not see below, but he reasoned that there was a bottom because Staefyn was there. He saw exposed roots of a tree nearby, so he scrambled to it and he concentrated on climbing down, his progress slow as he searched for stable hand and foot holds. As he climbed, he spoke to Staefyn, telling him that he was on his way, and the sound of his voice seemed to soothe the younger boy so he told Staefyn about his last trip to the first moon, how his mother had taken him to the mountains and he saw snow and stepped on ice._

 _Taeron realized that the sound of his voice served to calm him as well, especially after he once slipped. He had wildly thrown out his arms as his body bumped against the tree and he had managed to seize a handful of flimsy roots that had impossibly held his weight. He had been telling Staefyn about a horned animal larger than any man and almost as large as a canyon beast that his mother's guards had cornered. As he dangled in the air hanging onto the roots, he managed to regain his composure after the panic of believing he was going to die when he heard Staefyn ask if the warriors had killed the beast. After taking a calming breath he told Staefyn that his mother had told them to direct the proud animal away and that they would leave its territory._

 _By the time he finished speaking, his feet touched the bottom of the dark crevice and after giving thanks to the gods for sparing him, he called out for Staefyn. He heard a rustling sound and then another body slammed into him. Taeron held Staefyn and as the young prince sobbed in relief to have been rescued, Taeron looked for a way out of the crevice. He could barely see the light from above and he doubted that he would be able to climb up the tree roots alone. Doing so with Staefyn would be impossible. There were only two directions to go, so Taeron oriented himself by the tree roots, and taking Staefyn's hand, he headed in what he assumed was the most logical direction given what he knew about the land above._

 _They stumbled in the dark and Staefyn frequently cried out and threw himself against Taeron in terror, but Taeron pushed back his own fear when he heard rustling noises or something furry brush against him as he felt along the moss covered side of the crevice. Finally after walking for what seemed hours to a small child, they both saw the narrow opening at the end of the dark tunnel. Taeron kept Staefyn from running away by tightening his grip and he was glad when they found themselves above a small enclosed canyon. One of the mountain streams spilled over the edge of the canyon into a small pool from which steam rose before it continued on its way out._

 _Carefully they climbed down the rocky side of the canyon and Taeron did not ease his vigilance until they were both standing on the ground. The waning light of the first sun fell on Staefyn and Taeron laughed to see that he was dark brown from head to foot from mud and there was a beetle on his head._

 _"You are filthy!" he said as he plucked up the beetle and after taking a bite, he handed it to Staefyn who popped it in his mouth._

 _"So are you!" he said after a couple of chews._

 _Taeron looked at the steaming water. He knew that there were many such pools in the hills, that hot water came from below and while some were so hot that nothing could live in them, he hoped that the cold water from the stream flowing from the waterfall would make it comfortable enough to bathe. He did not want to return to Amyr if he looked anything like Staefyn._

 _Pulling off his boots, he walked in bare feet over the muddy bank of the spring and was encouraged that his feet were not burned._

 _"What are you doing?" asked Staefyn although he had taken off his boots as well and he hurried to catch up, hiding behind Taeron, holding his arm with both of his hands._

 _"I am going to take a bath." He tested the water with his foot, and finding it pleasantly warm, he waded further in._

 _"This feels good," Staefyn said and his grip on Taeron's arm eased until he had released him and despite his warning, Staefyn dived into the water. He did not breathe until Staefyn resurfaced several feet away. "It's not deep," he shouted to Taeron._

 _Taeron did not need any more encouragement. He dived after Staefyn, and they swam in their clothes for several minutes before he suggested they take them off and dry them as they stayed in the water. So they removed their sodden clothing and Taeron arranged them over a rock to dry as Staefyn splashed in the water. He found a few things on the ground to eat and took some to Staefyn, and after their hunger was momentarily satisfied, they played in the water. Taeron chased Staefyn above and below the surface, and when he caught him, Staefyn chased him, but Staefyn could not catch him and they finally stopped when Staefyn stomped out of the warm spring pouting._

 _Taeron had seen him go and he laughed before diving beneath the water and gliding like a fish until he needed air, and then he broke the surface. Turning to call out to Staefyn, daring him to catch him and intending this time to let him do so, he was unpleasantly surprised to see that a woman stood at the edge of the spring. She wore tattered clothing, and around her lined face was tangled black and gray hair that she had tied back with a filthy scrap of cloth. She carried an old wooden bucket in one of her hands and in the other she had a pot. Taeron could see that she had come to wash her cookware in the spring, but when he looked around, he could not see where she had come from._

 _Staefyn was approaching her without a care and he even heard Staefyn call out to her despite the many warnings they had received about speaking to strangers in the hills. There were clansmen who had refused to go to the moons and while they kept to themselves, they had not made an oath to the emperor and could not be trusted._

 _Taeron was suddenly very afraid for Prince Staefyn._


	59. Chapter 59 A moment of arrogance

**Chapter 59**

Quynn worried all day about the attack the warlord had planned on the group that left Edgeland Fortress. Unable to sleep, she stayed awake all night trying to think of some way to contact the fortress. Amyr and Yori would be in the group and they would not be expecting an assault from Kai's battle thralls, so it made her desperate enough to leave her bed with the intention of sneaking to the communication center at the palace. But when she opened the door, she saw that not only two guards stood on either side, but there were several more lining the corridor. Cursing her Guerani captor for reading her mind, she smiled and winked at her sullen guards before shutting her door quietly although she wanted to slam it with anger. Burning herself when Staefyn was busy with his mate and unavailable to heal her would be foolish after he had warned her that he could do nothing if her body had already begun to heal. She had enough scarring from the burns she had inflicted on herself on the trip from Norvana to Calabria and did not want to repulse Amyr with any more.

Some time after the second sun rose, she fell asleep and did not awaken until late afternoon when Vaedra came to tell her that Lady Xuxa was annoyed with her absence at the morning meal – she enjoyed flaunting her power over Staefyn and Quynn was her only audience – and she would send guards to bring her for the evening meal if she did not come voluntarily. She did not have an appetite, not when she was worried about her husband and son, but needed to know what had happened and hoped they might speak of the attack. After bathing and dressing with care so not to offend the harridan, she followed Vaedra to the terrace where they took their meals. The only hope she had, a slim one at best, was that Staefyn had grown a spine and told Kai to abort the attack that would kill nearly all the remaining Guerani on Calabria.

But upon arriving on the terrace, she knew she could not count on him. Staefyn sat sullenly while his mate and the Varoonyan creature chatted amiably about his recruiting efforts among the clans hiding in the hills , and from the fumes rising from his bejeweled cup, Quynn knew he was gulping wine that must have been fermented from the bitter fruit she had grown to dislike. She wondered if Staefyn had made the wine since Calabrians could not tolerate alcohol and it had only been introduced by his human grandmother who never took an evening meal without it. Before leaving for Calabria, Quynn had gone to visit her grandfather and learned that his wife had purchased a vineyard on Earth. Her heart ached to imagine that Staefyn was drinking wine to forget what he had allowed to happen to his family.

Lady Xuxa was dressed elegantly and Quynn could see past her age to the beautiful young woman she must have once been, beautiful enough to attract the attention of the crown prince, beautiful enough to tempt his imperial guard into betraying him. Even now she could command the attention of males, using her sensuality as she had in her youth, and as she did now on the warlord.

When Kai leaned toward her to catch the words she spoke in her low, throaty voice, Staefyn glared and drank deeply from his cup then demanded that it be refilled. Xuxa glanced at him, but Quynn saw the scorn in her eyes before she turned her attention back to Kai. Since they were flirting under Staefyn's nose, Quynn wondered how it would play out. She did not expect that Staefyn would tolerate the attention to his female or that his head would suddenly drop forward to hit the table.

The Varoonyan snorted with amusement and then offered his hand to Lady Xuxa, and Quynn watched them leave together. There was no better time to persuade Staefyn to her side, so Quynn waited for the serving woman to take away the dirty dishes before she prodded him by poking his arm with her knuckles.

At first he did not move, but after a harder shove, he raised his head and blinked several times. Two cups of wine were a lot for a Calabrian to handle, so Quynn was impressed that Staefyn had regained his senses, but he seized her hand and she suddenly found herself on his lap with his face buried in her bosom. His hands were shaking as he moved them down her back and over her thighs before she managed to struggle away from him.

"Gods!" he muttered thickly as she scrambled off his lap, and she turned to watch him vomit what he had eaten.

"Wonderful," she grumbled, her own stomach rebelling at the sight of what touching her had cost him. She managed to swallow her nausea. "Why did you do that? You knew what would happen, and I did not appreciate being mauled like that."

Staefyn raised his head as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and he met her gaze with watery, bloodshot eyes. Quynn had known some pilots at the colony who could drink all night and not look so bad as Staefyn after two – no, there was still half a cup of wine before him – one full cup of wine.

"She told me to stay away from her tonight." He snatched up the cup and drained it before throwing it over the balustrade into the valley below.

Quynn flinched. "Why do you put up with her? You know what she did to your grandfather!"

He glared at her. "You mean what she did to both of my grandfathers? She boasted of how furious Dax was that she had born him a child, but there was nothing he could do without exposing himself. Once my grandmother came into his life, he was afraid of losing her."

"She shared this with you?" Quynn hadn't thought that their relationship included pillow talk.

Staefyn snorted. "I have read every disgusting thought that whore has had, and I, alone, know how black her heart is."

"And yet you do her bidding!"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Go to your bed and your safe dreams. You cannot possibly understand what one decision made in a moment of prideful arrogance can do to your life."

"Don't I?" she demanded, hands on her hips as she faced him. "My own pride made me run away from Amyr and I have regretted it ever since."

"That was not your mistake," grumbled Staefyn. "Your mistake was returning with him, forgiving him."

"I love him."

"Love," he scoffed. "Love makes you humans weak. It made my father weak ..."

"Did it make Shamara and Dagan weak?" she demanded. He did not answer and she pitied him because she knew as well as he did that he would never be able to love or to understand how it felt. He was bonded to a female that used him in her twisted vengeance but had no feeling for him. "I am sorry, Staefyn."

"I won't abide your pity!" he snarled furiously.

"Then I won't trouble you with it any more."

As she walked away from the terrace, she heard him shout for another cup, so she guessed he would spend the night unconscious while his mate entertained the warlord. She returned to her room, and she sent Vaedra away after undressing and laying on her bed. It had been difficult to rest because each time she closed her eyes she saw battle thralls attacking Amyr or Yori and she would open them in a panic. Somehow she had fallen asleep only to awaken when she dreamed that Amyr was standing over her and she convinced herself that Amyr had taken her into a trance. But her room was empty and she was dismayed to realize that it had been a dream.

Vaedra brought her food in the morning, telling her that Lady Xuxa was eating in her chamber and Prince Staefyn seemed to have disappeared. After eating, Quynn walked in the garden, trying desperately not to think about the fate of those that she loved. She had traveled her usual path several times when she heard a shriek of anger and then Lady Xuxa's voice raised to demand that the servants find that Guerani bastard. If Staefyn's mate was angry, then Quynn had a reason to smile although she had no way of knowing what Staefyn might have done, but she quickly schooled her features to surprise when Xuxa appeared in the entryway from her chamber to the garden.

"Where is he?" she demanded furiously. Her gray hair was mussed, her makeup smudged and she wore only a dressing robe. If that was what Staefyn woke to every day, Quynn wondered why he had not yet thrown himself off the highest tower of the palace.

"Why would he be here?" asked Quynn with annoyance. Was the woman actually accusing her of seducing her bonded mate? Was such a thing even possible?

"I know he tries to mate with whores when he drinks that noxious fermented juice," snarled Xuxa. She came to Quynn and her bony fingers dug into her arm as she hauled her around to face her.

Quynn was surprised she could remain calm in the face of Xuxa's insanity. "In the first place, biologically speaking, Calabrians are not able to do what you suggest, and in the second place, I would not welcome him, drunk or otherwise, to my bed."

The old female glared at her, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she considered what Quynn said, and then she released her. She ran a shaky hand through her tangled hair, then smoothed out her robe. "I cannot find him," she said when she was calm enough to talk. "The warlord has gone, so I will allow him to visit me again. I was going to forgive him, but now I may need to punish him."

Although disgusted by her, Quynn did not show it. "If I should see him, I will tell him that you await him." She was more likely to tell him to stay away from her, but Staefyn would probably run eagerly to her chamber. The thought of how he would spend the day with this repulsive female made her so queasy she had to swallow several times to keep from vomiting on the spot.

Xuxa licked her lips and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "He will be very penitent, very penitent indeed."

The door to her chamber had barely closed on the departing woman before Quynn lost the contents of her stomach on a nearby bush. As she heaved, she congratulated herself on her self-control because Xuxa would never know how close she had come to wearing vomit back to her chambers. She doubted even that would deter Staefyn.

Weakened by Xuxa's visit, Quynn laid down on her bed, and when her stomach finally settled, she concentrated on happier moments with her husband and son and she was able to drift off to sleep.

A noise awoke Quynn from the peaceful nap she was taking and for a moment she thought it had come from the open door leading to the garden, or that it might have been a bird. She felt a cool breeze and saw that the first sun had set, but she sensed that she was not alone, and she turned her head to see Staefyn sitting on the floor across the room, his back against the wall, his eyes closed. She wondered if he had spent the day appeasing Xuxa.

"If that is a question you mean to ask, then the answer is yes. I left when Kai returned with news from the battle." He opened his eyes to look at her and Quynn could not even breathe as she waited for his news. "They underestimated my mother and my brother. Indeed, I doubted Amyr's ability to lead men, but Taeron must have taught him well."

She heard the resentment in his voice and her heart swelled with the hope that Amyr and Yori were safe. "They have spent many hours together training."

Leaning his head back against the wall, Staefyn closed his eyes again. "Go back to sleep, Quynn. The life in your belly needs for you to rest."

Quynn was going to ask him for more details of the battle, but she suddenly felt very weary. She moved towards the pillows on the floor as if she did not have a will of her own, and when she realized that Staefyn was controlling her, she tried to fight it and stopped shy of laying on the pillows. The stones around her neck were burning her as she resisted him with the magic she could not control.

But Staefyn left his place at the wall. "There is no reason for you to hurt yourself. I will not harm you." The pull he had on her body became stronger, but she fought it until she lost when he reached her, lifted her from her feet and bore her to the pillows where he laid beside her. As he leaned in close to blow his cool, healing breath across her neck, he took her hands in his own and she was ripped away from consciousness to a black void.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in Guerani Palace. She was outside, somewhere in the hills where there was a spring from which tendrils of steam rose. She heard running footsteps and she turned to see a naked boy running towards her. He had long, dark hair and his wide eyes were deepest purple. He paused to seize a stick from the ground and he grabbed her shoulder, shoving her back behind him.

 _"Stay away!"_ The boy held the stick defensively, and Quynn saw that there was a filthy bedraggled woman nearby. She was shocked to realize the crone was Lady Xuxa. She carried a bucket filled with filthy chipped and broken pottery that she must have brought to the spring to wash.

Now she straightened and her icy gaze rested on the boy trying to ward her off. _"I mean no harm."_ Her voice was hoarse as if she were unused to speaking. She nodded to her bucket. _"I have come to wash."_

 _"Leave her alone, Taeron."_ Quynn had not spoken; the body into which she found herself had spoken and glancing down, she saw that she, too, was a naked little boy. She looked back at the other boy, shocked to realize that it was her brother many years ago.

 _"I will not harm her if she stays away from you,"_ announced Taeron, waving the stick menacingly.

Xuxa's eyes narrowed on Taeron, then she looked over his shoulder at Quynn, or rather the body into which she found herself. _"Who might you be?"_ she asked gruffly.

Before the boy could answer, Taeron snapped, _"Who are you? Are you a clanswoman?"_

 _"You overstep yourself,"_ snapped the boy who straightened his shoulders and moved forward, shouldering Taeron out of his way. _"I am Prince Staefyn. If you can show us the exit so that Taeron and I can return to my uncle, Lord Apolo, I am sure that the emperor would greatly reward you."_

Quynn was shocked to find herself in the past, trapped in Staefyn's body.

 _"My lord," hissed Taeron angrily._

 _Staefyn glared at him, still furious that he had spoiled their fun by proving that he was stronger and faster, and now he was treating him like a foolish child. He ignored Taeron and gave the hag a smile, remembering that when Apolo wanted a female to do something for him, he had but to smile._

 _The old woman stared at him without speaking for a long moment in which Staefyn felt his nerves tingle. A breeze was swirling in the canyon now, and Staefyn thought he could hear voices, but he guessed it was just the rustling of the leaves in the trees._

 _Finally she said, "Get dressed. I will show you to my cottage and then point out the path to one of the roads. It is a long walk, but you may yet reach the road before second sunset."_

 _Taeron did not speak as he spun and stomped back to where he had put their clothing over a rock. He took Staefyn's tunic and leggings and balling them up, he tossed the still damp clothing at him. "Do you want me to dress you also, my lord prince?"_

 _His resentment hurt Staefyn. Who did Taeron think he was? He was a whore's bastard who did not have a male to claim him. Just because he ran with princes did not make him one! Glowering at him, he pulled on his tunic and leggings, dressing before Taeron and when he went to where they left their boots, he did not take Taeron's to him, but kicked them into the water and stomped away, sneering at Taeron whose clothing was drenched after the effort of finding his boots in the spring._

 _Staefyn went to the old woman who was smiling as she watched Taeron pour the water out of his boots before slipping them on. "We can go. He will follow."_

 _She reached out her hand to him and Staefyn hesitated at first, not liking the bony fingers and sagging skin of her hand. Unlike his elegant grandmother, she was pitifully thin, her clothing ragged and filthy, and her hair, while held back with a torn strip of cloth, was matted and stiff. When he breathed in, his nose wrinkled from the stench, but there was nothing about her face to convince Staefyn that she was anything but a poor old woman trying to survive. She might even be a Guerani healer who had been hiding in this forgotten canyon since the days that Dax the Demon had hunted them._

 _"Don't touch her," warned Taeron who came to them with one boot on and one off. He hopped as he slipped on the other, but his eyes were on the old woman._

 _Staefyn took her hand and ignored Taeron to walk beside her. "Are you Guerani?" he asked after a moment when she did not speak and they could only hear Taeron huffing with annoyance._

 _The old woman's laugh was harsh to his ears. "They are all dead."_

 _"My mother is not dead," he told her. "And my uncle is alive as well. I have a sister that has powers, but my brother does not. Nor do I." Staefyn wished he had powers, and that way he could prove himself superior to Amyr._

 _"There are no Guerani in the hills," she told him. "I have lived here for many, many years and have not seen any since the Demon hunted them."_

 _"He was my grandfather," Staefyn said. He was not proud to be Dax's grandson, but it was an inescapable fact._

 _She did not respond as she led them through thick bushes on a path that was so narrow that she had to release his hand to keep moving forward. He reached out to grasp her ragged skirt so that he could stay near her and he could hear Taeron swatting at the shrubs behind them. After several minutes of pushing through the thick foliage, they came out and what she had called a cottage appeared to be no more branches piled together and sealed with mud. There was no door, and when she slipped inside a narrow opening, Taeron kept Staefyn from following her._

 _"What do you think you are doing?"_

 _Staefyn yanked his arm from Taeron's grasp. "She has not harmed us! She has shown us the way out. You would not have found the way."_

 _"You do not know that!" snapped Taeron. "I had not even looked yet!"_

 _The old woman came out of her hut carrying a large leaf on which she had piled a collection of beetles and grubs. "I do not have much, but I will share what I do. You have a long way to walk."_

 _Staefyn took the leaf from her and began to eat._

 _Taeron frowned at him and then said to the old woman, "Thank you for your generosity." Even when he was so distrustful of the female, Taeron did not forget to be annoyingly polite. But then he asked brusquely, "In which direction is the road?"_

 _"I am not done eating," snapped Staefyn, his mouth full. He did not bother offering any to Taeron who was glaring at him as he ate._

 _"Come inside, my young prince. I have some juice that I pressed only yesterday from ripe rosenberries that I found along the road." She headed back inside without waiting for his response._

 _Taeron put out his hand. "Do not go in there," he warned Staefyn._

 _Staefyn glared at him. "Do not tell me what to do!" Gods, he hated Taeron almost as much as Amyr!_

 _He pushed his way into the hut and closed the door on Taeron when he tried to follow him. For a moment he could not see anything in the windowless structure, but then his eyes adjusted and he saw a pile of weeds on one side that must be her bed and on the other there was a large, flat rock. Staefyn realized she must have built the hut around the rock because it took up nearly the entirety of that side of the hut. While the surface was uneven, it was flat enough to serve as a table and she now stood over it with a stone mug that was cracked. She was stirring the contents of the mug with a twig and when he moved further inside, she started and turned around quickly as if she were surprised that he had come in although she had invited him._

 _"My lord prince!" she gasped and her hand went to her ragged skirt where she buried it in the filthy cloth but not before he saw a red stain._

 _With her other hand she held the cup to him, but his eyes were on the hand she was trying to hide as took it from her. "Are you hurt?"_

 _She raised the hand and he saw that her palm had a cut and that blood seeped from the wound. "Do not trouble yourself. I have cut myself on the cup on many occasions." He glanced at the cup in his hand, worried that he might cut himself but he did not see any jagged edges._

 _"I was going to enjoy the juice myself for I picked the sweetest berries, but I would be honored, my lord prince, if you would share."_

 _Staefyn looked back at her bleeding hand, and then he looked into the cup at the dark red juice. His gut wrenched and he was suddenly afraid, but he had no reason for his fear. The old woman was watching him expectantly and he thought she might be afraid that he would not appreciate her gesture, so he raised the cup to his lips._

 _He heard the wind again, now rattling the branches of her hut. Her eyes widened and she looked around fearfully before laughing nervously and turning back to Staefyn. "Have you tasted it? Is it not delicious?"_

 _As he imagined Taeron's voice telling him not to do it, he took a mouthful of the liquid in the cup and he was almost surprised to taste sweet rosenberry juice. He enjoyed the taste so much that he took another swallow and then he realized that he should share._

 _"Do you wish to have some?" He held out the cup to her._

 _Her smile made the hairs at the back of his neck rise and he heard the wind again, but as she took the cup for a sip, she did not react to the rustling branches and he wondered if it was his imagination._

 _She handed it back to him. "Finish it, my prince."_

 _He took another sip. "Can I give some to Taeron?" he asked after lowering the cracked cup and licking his lips._

 _She laughed softly and reached out to take the cup from his hand. "This is only for us to share, my lord prince." He watched her drain the cup and set it aside. For a moment she stood staring at him and he felt disquieted as the wind died down. Oddly, he had felt better with the wind threatening to blow down her hut._

 _She smiled and patted him on the head. "You should be on your way, my young prince. Your imperial guard is waiting for you."_

 _"He is not my imperial guard," he snapped resentfully. "He is just a bastard and he has no house, so my father has him in our house."_

 _She stopped him from leaving by putting a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. "Your father has a bastard in his house? Who is his mother?"_

 _Staefyn wrinkled his nose. "They call her Lady Larya, but I have heard some call her a whore."_

 _The fingers of the hand on his shoulder dug in for a moment and when he tried to shrug her off, she instantly removed her hand. "Let us go meet the bastard."_

 _Taeron was standing just outside the hut, the stick gripped in his hand as if it were a weapon. He was visibly relieved when Staefyn stepped out into the eerie light from the setting of the second sun._

 _"I am sorry that there was not enough juice for you," Staefyn told him as he licked his lips. He could still taste the sweetness of the berries, but suddenly he detected a metallic aftertaste and he began to have a queasy feeling in his stomach. He glanced at the woman and saw that she was smiling kindly at them._

 _"I shall ask my father to send you a reward for helping us," he declared._

 _She shook her head. "I do not need your lord father's thanks."_

 _"I told you she was a clanswoman!" hissed Taeron. "I hope she did not do you ill!"_

 _Her eyes were frosty as they rested on Taeron. "Why are you so suspicious, my young friend?" She reached out to touch Taeron's face, but he stumbled away from her hand and Staefyn saw that she had not wiped all the blood from her palm._

 _"Show us the way and be quick about it," demanded Taeron fiercely._

 _Staefyn hoped that he did not offend her for she might lie to them, and he worried that she had sent them in the wrong direction as they followed the barely discernible path to which she had directed them while remaining behind. But they came to a well traveled path that wound through the forest and the sun was at the edge of the horizon when they came to an imperial road that was paved with flagstones._

 _By that time, Staefyn was exhausted and he felt warm although he could see that Taeron was shivering in the evening breeze. Staefyn did not want to tell Taeron that he felt sick, but he soon had no choice as his stomach flipped and he leaned over to vomit on the side of the road. He was heaving uncontrollably before Taeron reached him, and when Staefyn tried to straighten, he thrust his finger in his mouth and into his throat so far that Staefyn gagged and he retched on Taeron. He did not stop until there was nothing in his belly and Taeron was standing over him where he knelt by the side of the road with his belly heaving._

 _"She has poisoned you!" cried Taeron in horror, and in the light of the moons, Staefyn could see the tears streaming down his cheeks._

 _"No!" insisted Staefyn although his body felt as if it were on fire._

 _Taeron dropped to his knees and he pulled Staefyn into his arms. Staefyn felt dizzy and disoriented as Taeron shook with sobs, rocking him as he cradled him in his embrace. "Don't die, Staefyn! Please don't die! You are the brother of my heart!"_

 _Gulping for air, Staefyn felt an overwhelming wave of sorrow and he realized with shock that it had come from Taeron. He heard the wind again, and this time he heard heart-breaking cries and Staefyn knew at that moment that he had received his Guerani power._

 _He suddenly laughed although his body ached and he wondered if this was part of the change that had come to him._

 _"Taeron, you are hurting me!" He felt Taeron's relief as if it were his own, and when Taeron set him back to look at him, he seemed to sense that something was different._

 _"I have my powers," he told him joyfully and he reached out to take Taeron's hands. The feelings were weak, but he felt Taeron's mingled surprise and happiness._

 _"Apolo will be overjoyed," Taeron predicted. "And your mother too!"_

 _"Amyr will be very angry." They shared a laugh and then Staefyn had an idea. "Let us not tell anyone." Staefyn would be very amused to be able to use his powers against Amyr and his brother would be none the wiser._

 _Taeron seemed skeptical at first and pointed out that he would not be able to hide it for long, not when his mother, Apolo and Shamara would know the first time he used his powers._

 _"Then I will not use my powers around them." Staefyn thought it would be easy._

 _There were sounds of approaching horses and Taeron drew Staefyn off the road to hide in the bushes so that they could see if the approaching travelers were imperials or clansmen. Taeron finally whispered that they were imperials and that Apolo was riding among them. Staefyn strained to see that his uncle held Amyr on his horse and that he appeared to be very worried. He knew if he tried to use his new senses that he would feel Apolo's concern, but then Apolo would sense him so he did not try._

 _Taeron stepped out into the road and Staefyn hurried to stand behind him as Taeron hailed them. He leaned forward to whisper in his ear as the imperial warriors spurred their mounts towards them._

 _"Taeron, are you going to tell them about the woman and the warm spring?" he whispered anxiously._

 _Taeron looked over his shoulder at him. "That is a very small secret compared to the other you ask me to keep."_

 _Staefyn reached down to grasp Taeron's hands and Taeron smiled at him. He would keep their secret._


	60. Chapter 60 A lifetime of regret

**Chapter 60**

Quynn had watched the incident as if it were a movie in which she had somehow participated and she expected Staefyn to release her from his memories once she had seen how Xuxa had entrapped him. But he was not done and what followed surprised her so much that she wondered what was true and what was his imagination. She had always thought that Taeron and Amyr were close friends, but the truth was that Amyr treated Taeron as if he were a troublesome servant that he was glad to palm off to Staefyn. So Taeron and Staefyn would sneak away, finding deserted corners of the palace, and when they had grown, in the city, and when they visited the Guerani Hills, which they did frequently, they returned alone to the hot spring.

 _Taeron and Staefyn were closer than many brothers as they grew, and if Amyr noticed, he did not seem to care as his attention was diverted by females and he was glad not to be troubled with them. Staefyn's powers grew and Taeron did not care when Staefyn read his mind, and he liked it when Staefyn healed the usual cuts and scrapes he got as a child although he often cautioned Staefyn to heal sparingly because he might harm himself in the process and Taeron might have a difficult time explaining how this cut or that bruise had suddenly disappeared._

 _They did not see the old woman again for several years even though they frequently spent time at the hot spring, and once or twice they had sought the old woman's hut and failed to find it. Staefyn did not care because he was uneasy when he thought of the crone. He was sure she was dead, that she could not have survived the harsh conditions of the hills in the cold months or the rainy season._

 _The year that Amyr came of age, Taeron had more time to spend with Staefyn because Amyr would spend hours in the day lying in his pillows with naked females. Whenever they were in the practice yard, Amyr would become distracted by them and Taeron and Staefyn would abandon their own practice to discreetly follow him when Amyr followed a female to a secluded corner where they would see them rubbing their bodies together._

 _Taeron and Staefyn laughed about his foolishness until the time came that Taeron was no longer a child and Staefyn was disappointed that Taeron often watched females when they passed by. Staefyn would turn to see what interested him and he could not understand why Taeron would watch a female's rolling hips with his jaw slack. Before he realized what was happening, Taeron was spending more time in Amyr's shadow and he caught him more than once touching a female that had pushed him against the wall to rub herself against him. Staefyn knew the female had been sent by Amyr, and when such females tried to accost Staefyn, he shoved them away, disgusted and revolted to the point of nausea by their touch._

 _He told Taeron about his reaction to them and Taeron was puzzled that Staefyn did not feel the excitement he did with females. He suggested asking Apolo about it, but Staefyn did not want his uncle knowing about his problem, not when Apolo watched him suspiciously as it was. Staefyn had kept the Guerani from touching his hands and he was careful to use his powers far from them, but it was harder and harder until he learned that he could block him from sensing him._

 _The first few times he had used a ward, it had been weak and Staefyn hid from Apolo when he turned his head to find the source of the power. Fortunately Shamara had been nearby, so his uncle believed it had been her. After that, Staefyn did not practice warding his powers from his uncle unless his sister was nearby so that they would think the other had done something. The first time he had used his powers to read Amyr's thoughts when his mother was nearby, the risk was offset by the joy at discovering he could block her. Then again, his mother did not often use her powers for fear that the imperials would brand her a sorceress and demand her removal._

 _He learned to initiate trances on his own, the first time taking himself to the hot spring even though it was winter and very cold in the hills, and when he told Taeron about it, Taeron wanted to go as well, so he pulled Taeron along with him. They did it many times, spending many days together in the hills and at the hotsprings, and Staefyn was glad that he could offer Taeron something that Amyr and his females could not._

 _But that enjoyable experience was cut short when Taeron suddenly became obsessed with pleasing Lord Duo so that governor of the second moon would claim him. Staefyn was sure that Lady Larya had lied to Taeron about his father, that Lord Duo would not have mated with the abhorrent female, but when he offered to find out the truth for Taeron by using his powers, he stubbornly refused and forbade Staefyn from doing so. He claimed it would be disloyal to his mother to ask a Guerani confirm the truth of what she had always claimed. Staefyn did not want to know the truth. If Taeron's mother had lied to him, he would be devastated and if he confirmed her claim, he would be equally hurt to know for certainty that Lord Duo rejected him for no good reason._

 _Although Staefyn trained with Taeron, Chaela and Amyr, he did not put in near the effort that Taeron did in his obsession to be an imperial guard. Amyr usually grew quickly bored and often he slipped away as Staefyn and Chaela remained to watch Taeron perform feats that awed their instructors. Staefyn was happy for the brother of his heart and when they finished with instruction for the day, they spent many hours talking about the future. Taeron pressed Staefyn to tell his family about his powers, but Staefyn was afraid they would send him away to train with Apolo at the Edgeland Fortress, especially since he showed little aptitude for being a warrior. Staefyn did not want to be separated from Taeron, and when he begged Taeron to help him with his training, they would return to the practice field when it was deserted to train, but they spent more hours in trances that left Staefyn exhausted but which allowed him to earn his imperial sword._

 _As it turned out, they were fated to be separated anyway. Taeron and Staefyn were sitting in Staefyn's room on a mat near the window and they were about to enter a trance when Chaela burst into the room with the news that she overheard her parents discussing Taeron's future. Shamara was returning soon from Bayman and she heard their father say that it was time for Taeron to undertake the test to become an imperial guard._

 _While Taeron was speechless with joy at the news, thinking that being Amyr's imperial guard was the pinnacle of his life's work, Staefyn was sad to hear that he would lose Taeron. Taeron would have to spend all his time with Amyr, guarding him every moment of the day. They would no longer be able to visit the hot spring together, not in this world, not in a trance. So Staefyn suggested that they take a trip to the hills together one last time. Because they often visited the hills, they were not questioned when they requested an escort to Edgeland Fortress, but Amyr demanded to accompany them. Staefyn had read his thoughts to discover that he was growing bored with the females at the imperial palace and expected to glut himself on Apolo's daughters. Apolo's daughters were females that he had rescued as infants from exposure in the Wastelands that some imperials had stubbornly refused to cease. He had nearly a dozen young females at the fortress, but Amyr was a fool if he thought Apolo was going to let him touch any of them._

 _Amyr accompanied them anyway and Staefyn was annoyed that he kept Taeron's attention focused on him on the two day ride to the fortress. But once they got there, Taeron assured him that he would slip away with Staefyn to the hot spring. Taeron knew it would probably be the last time they would do so and Staefyn felt that Taeron's sadness matched his own._

 _But the morning they had planned to ride to the hills together, Staefyn waited for Taeron to join him, his horse saddled and ready for him, but Taeron did not come out, so Staefyn went in search of him. He found Taeron with Amyr, and they were flirting with a couple of pretty serving women, touching them where they should not, allowing the females to touch them, and Staefyn felt physically sick to watch._

 _Angry at what he perceived as Taeron's betrayal, Staefyn mounted his horse and rode away from the fortress as fast as he could. The wind dried the tears to his cheeks and he ignored the voices in the wind that called out to him, trying to comfort him. Staefyn went to the hot spring alone, ordering his escort to wait down the road, far enough away that they would not see where he went. This was his and Taeron's private place and he would not have it spoiled by his father's guards._

 _He knew they mocked him because he did not join Amyr and Taeron in their diversions; Staefyn knew that Apolo questioned his manhood and wondered if his uncle had sent the female to his room after they celebrated his coming of age. Staefyn did not want to think about how terrible that experience had been, and the only thing that kept it from being completely shaming was that he was able to block the female's memories so she could not report his failure. Knowing how his father had felt at having his own memories taken from him, Staefyn had to fight guilt at doing the same to another, but he did not want his uncle to know. Staefyn was also starting to feel guilty about not telling anyone about his powers when they first came to him seven years earlier. His parents would be upset, if not angry, for his secrecy. Staefyn hadn't planned for it to go on for so long, but he enjoyed this one thing he shared with Taeron._

 _As he neared the path that would take him to the spring, he began to feel warm and he wondered if the water would be too hot, and when a wave of weariness rolled over him, he thought he should go back._

 _Suddenly a shadow moved and Staefyn felt momentary fear until his body suddenly became rigid and a heat that he had never felt before engulfed him. The part of him that had not reacted no matter what the female sent to him had done to try to arouse him did so now with painful swiftness. He detected a scent on the wind that scrambled his thoughts, and he climbed off his horse to follow it to its source._

 _When the old woman stepped from the shadows, Staefyn thought he should be repulsed, and his mind screamed at him to turn away, but his feet took him quickly to her. His heart was pounding and blood was rushing through his body, making his knees weak with wanting something from this female._

 _She was even more wretched than he remembered, but he closed the distance to her and he could not even control what he did then. What he had seen Amyr and Taeron do with females could not even compare what he did to that old crone in the shadow of a tree. No part of his being saw anything wrong with how he used her, and she responded by guiding him, teaching him to please her._

 _They did not even stop until he was too hungry and thirsty to continue, and then she took him to a small cave near the hot spring to which she had moved when imperials had chased bandits into the area. They did not believe she wasn't harboring them, so they burned down her hut and she had been moving around to keep the imperials and clansmen alike from finding her until she recently discovered the cave. Staefyn did not even care about her story. He demanded that she ease the persistent ache he felt and she knew many ways to do so._

 _Staefyn did not leave for several days, and even then he was reluctant, but she assured him that she would remain there for him. His escort had made a camp to wait for him, not surprised that he would stay away so long since they had been with him and Taeron several times and saw nothing unusual in his absence. But Staefyn was surprised to find Taeron with them._

 _"Where have you been?" he demanded, seizing Staefyn's arm and dragging him away from the other men so that they could not hear. "I was worried about you! I went to the spring but you were not there!"_

 _"When did you go?" asked Staefyn. "I waited for you that morning and you did not come to meet me." He could not keep the resentment from creeping into his voice._

 _Taeron's face flushed guiltily and he ran a nervous hand through his long hair. "I am sorry. I was … distracted."_

 _After what he experienced, Staefyn could now understand Taeron's attraction to the females. He smiled at him. "You did not have to worry about me. The ancestors kept me company." By the gods, that female was old enough to be an ancestor!_

 _"We can go in the morning without worrying that Amyr will bother us. Apolo is angry at him because he tried to seduce Iliaene, so he sent him back to Imperia three days ago. I have been looking for you since then."_

 _Staefyn was as glad as Taeron that Amyr was gone and he read in Taeron easily enough that he was happy to spend time alone with him. Since the second sun was setting, they settled in the camp and Staefyn was glad to have back the Taeron that he had grown up with. As they reminisced about their visits to the Guerani Hills, Staefyn realized that he was not losing Taeron. Their friendship was deep enough to survive any separation. He knew the wisdom came from the ancestors whose whispers eased the ache he felt at the prospect of losing Taeron. They told him that Taeron would always be there for him, that they had long ago accepted him as the brother of his heart._

 _When they grew tired, Taeron held Staefyn under his cloak with him and he spoke of his deepest wishes, of his desire to have Lord Duo look him in the eye and call him son. Staefyn ached for Taeron, but he was afraid he could not help him, but long after Taeron fell asleep in his arms he wondered what he could do short of betraying his oath not to use his powers regarding his father. He had no answer before he fell asleep except that he must trust the gods to help Taeron._

 _He awoke some time during the night before first sunrise, and he felt overly warm. Knowing the cause, he eased away from Taeron and after quietly taking his horse, he led it away from the camp before mounting to head back towards the hot spring. When he had come close enough, he hid his horse tied to a fallen tree, then hurried away, ducking into the bushes and following his instincts to reach the crone's cave. She was not surprised that he had returned and welcomed him eagerly. He did not care that the cave reeked of whatever animal had inhabited it before she found it or that the weeds she used as bedding were not fresh. He had a great need that only she could ease and she did so in many ways that numbed his mind with pleasure._

 _Time had no meaning for him in that cave, and when he was coherent enough to understand her, she told him that she was his mate, that she had known that the gods had chosen him for her when she first saw him that day at the hot spring. Staefyn did not question her because he knew by the reaction of his body that she was telling the truth, and he would not question the will of the gods for pairing him with this female. He was too happy to be with her and did whatever she asked so that she would not regret the gods' choice for her mate._

 _He did not know how many passings of the suns had gone by, but this morning when he awoke in her arms, he sensed that their seclusion was about to be invaded. Staefyn gently nudged her and she made a mewling sound of protest that she was too tired. He considered proving her wrong, but he was more concerned about protecting her._

 _Pulling on his leggings and boots, Staefyn seized his sword and he stepped out of the cave._

 _He almost did not see him, but Staefyn sensed his presence. Taeron stood nearby in the shadows created by the first sunrise, his own sword in his hand._

 _"What are you doing here, Staefyn? Why did you not return?" Taeron was hurt and Staefyn was almost staggered by the depth of his feeling. But Taeron glanced at the cave and Staefyn moved to put himself between Taeron and the cave where his mate lay sleeping._

 _"You should not have come here." For the first time, Staefyn felt that what he was doing was wrong, unnatural, and he saw it mirrored in Taeron's eyes._

 _"Who is in there, Staefyn?"_

 _Staefyn swallowed nervously and he could not say the words that he should._

 _But she stepped out then, and she was wearing Staefyn's tunic to cover her aged body. As repulsive as she must looke in Taeron's eyes, Staefyn wanted to tear the garment form her body and claim her again and again._

 _"I am his mate," she announced. Her eyes raked Taeron and she sneered. "I remember you. You are Larya's bastard."_

 _Taeron started and he swiveled his head to spear Staefyn with his dumbfounded gaze. "Is this true?"_

 _Staefyn reluctantly nodded. "She is the mate the gods intend for me."_

 _He had a small hope that Taeron might be happy that he had found a mate, but Taeron raised his sword and he headed toward her. Staefyn quickly threw up his sword and stepped between them._

 _Taeron was shocked. "You cannot expect to challenge me over this foul witch!"_

 _"She is my mate," Staefyn said through gritted teeth. Why didn't Taeron understand?_

 _"By the gods! Are you that much of a fool?" Taeron shoved his sword back in its scabbard and he turned his menacing gaze on her. "Who are you? How have you done this to Prince Staefyn?" He looked at Staefyn. "She has bewitched you! Can you not see?"_

 _Staefyn did not know what to say, but she laughed. "I do not use spells. I have done what women have done since the beginning of time to protect themselves."_

 _Staefyn did not know what she was talking about, but Taeron looked at him. "Did you take her blood? Did she bond you to her?"_

 _He shook his head, ready to deny it, but when he looked at her, he saw her clench her hand at her side, the smile on her thin lips and then he knew what she had done to him many years ago. Gods! How had he been so stupid? Tears sprang to his eyes and when he met Taeron's gaze, he saw that his dear brother felt as much sorrow as if Staefyn had taken a sword to his heart. Staefyn knew that his life was over._

 _She seemed to fear for her own survival because she hurried to Staefyn and seized his arm. "He will kill me!"_

 _"He won't kill you," Staefyn said dully, hating that his body wanted hers even now with Taeron looking upon them with revulsion._

 _"Do you even know your mate's name?" asked Taeron. "Did you intend to creep out here to mate with her in secret?"_

 _She stiffened behind him. "I am not this princeling's dirty secret to hide in the hills awaiting his pleasure. I am Xuxa, lady of emperor Zeno's court! I will return to my place at his side!"_

 _Taeron stumbled back in shock and Staefyn quivered in response. He knew who Xuxa was, had heard the stories of her machinations at his grandfather's court, and while part of him was sickened by what she had done to him, he had no choice now but to protect her._

 _Taeron turned to leave and Xuxa pushed Staefyn after him. "You have to kill him! He will tell others and they will hunt me! You must protect me!"_

 _Her terror leeched into Staefyn, so he quickly headed after Taeron, to prevent him from reaching their escort. But Taeron was running and only Staefyn's fear for his mate enabled him to catch up and with a final leap at him, he tackled Taeron to the ground. They struggled for several moments, wrestling for dominance until Taeron drew a dagger and pushed the point under Staefyn's chin._

 _They both knew he could kill him, but Staefyn knew that he would not, had read it in his thoughts. But Taeron was not going to let him kill him either and he did not know what to do._

 _Tears glistened in Taeron's dark eyes. "I cannot kill you, Staefyn."_

 _"I know."_

 _"Will you kill me?" Taeron was afraid even though he held the dagger._

 _"Put aside the blade. I will not kill you. But I cannot risk you telling anyone about Xuxa."_

 _"What are you going to do?" Taeron's breathing was erratic, and Staefyn knew he was afraid of his powers now, and he could see that his glowing eyes reflected in Taeron's wide eyes._

 _Staefyn was sad that after all that they shared, the brother of his heart feared him, but he had not choice in what he must do. He held Taeron's gaze for a moment longer until Taeron was unable to move and Staefyn pried the dagger from his hand. After tossing it aside, he quickly seized his hands, and straddling him, he lowered their joined hands to his side and leaned forward to peer into his eyes._

 _"I am so sorry, Taeron. There is nothing else I can do."_

 _Tears spilled out the corners of Taeron's eyes, but he was unable to speak what Staefyn felt pouring from his heart. Nobody knew more than Staefyn how moved Taeron was by the story of what Dax the Demon had done to Staefyn's father and now Staefyn had no choice but to take from Taeron what they both had held precious for so long._

 _Closing his own eyes to blot out Taeron's blurry face and bank his own tears, Staefyn entered Taeron's mind. Taeron's heart was racing, his mind screaming in agony as Staefyn rifled through his memories, twisting them, moving their private moments, their shared joys, their sorrows and any memory of Xuxa. He pushed the memories into a far corner of his mind and wrapped them with a seal so tight that they could never escape. The experience had drained him as much as it had Taeron, so when he finished and opened his eyes, Staefyn dragged himself away to retch nearby. Taeron lay staring up at the sky, his eyes blank, his face emotionless, so Staefyn returned to whisper instructions in his ear before he stumbled away to find Xuxa._

 _She was pacing outside the cave, twisting her hands before her, and when she saw him, she threw herself at him with relief. He was disgusted that he wanted to take her there, but he managed to hold her at arm's length._

 _"I have taken his memories."_

 _Her lip curled and her face darkened with anger. "Do you think it will last? Your pathetic grandfather did it to Trey, and did that last?"_

 _Staefyn saw her for what she was for the first time. "You did this to me to revenge yourself on my father?"_

 _"And that Wasteland whore!" she sneered. "She caused the death of my son!" Seeing his dismay, she laughed and put her hand under his chin. "Does it matter? You are mine now." She slid her finger down his chin, down his chest and while his mind screamed to end her life, his body ached for the relief that only she could give him._

 _But she withdrew her hand and his knees buckled in physical disappointment. "Go kill him."_

 _"I won't." He did not know where he found the strength to deny her, but he could not kill Taeron._

 _"I will do it myself."_

 _Staefyn could not physically harm her, but he hoped he could prevent her from killing Taeron. He quickly followed her to where he had left him lying helpless in the grass, but Taeron was gone, and Xuxa crept through the forest until she came to the road. They hid among the bushes to watch as Taeron was mounting a horse brought to him by the escort._

 _"Where is Prince Staefyn?" asked one of the men._

 _Taeron shrugged his shoulders. "He must have returned to the fortress. I saw no sign of him." Staefyn was grimly pleased to hear him speak aloud the thoughts he had given to him. He was sure that Taeron's memory of what he had seen was completely blocked and as he watched him ride away with the men, Staefyn felt overwhelming sadness._

 _"We will find another way to dispose of him," murmured Xuxa, tugging his hand. "Come with me. I must teach you the consequences of your actions, and then I will forgive you."_

 _He had no choice but to follow. His future belonged to Xuxa._

"One moment of arrogance, a lifetime of regret."

The whispered words brought Quynn back to the present, but when she turned her head to look for Staefyn, she saw that he was gone, leaving behind feelings of grief and sorrow. She burst into tears, not just for what Staefyn had taken from Taeron, but for what Staefyn had lost.


	61. Chapter 61 House Caron

**Chapter 61**

Taeron awoke to find that he was lying among soft pillows, and lifting his head, he saw that he was in Amyr's room. What was he doing in Amyr's room, lying in his bed? He felt the warmth of another body against his, and he turned expecting to see one of Amyr's females who must have slipped some wine into his cup the previous night, but he was stunned to see Lady Arora. While she was fully clothed from head to foot in black, he was terrified to find her dozing next to him in Amyr's bed. What had he done? Why was he here? Amyr was going to be angry that he dared to lie in his bed, but the emperor would be enraged when he discovered that his mate had lain with another male!

"He is awake."

He swung in the direction of the voice and saw Amyr standing with Shamara and Chaela, and Taeron quickly scrambled away from Lady Arora who tiredly pushed herself to sitting before Shamara helped her to her feet.

Taeron sprang away from her and stumbled to fall on his knees before Amyr. "Forgive me, my lord prince! I … I do not know how I came to be here!"

Instead of glaring at him and threatening punishment as Taeron expected, Amyr looked down at him with a faint smile on his lips before looking past him to his mother. "He is disoriented."

"I thought he might be." Taeron did not dare raise his head to look back at Lady Arora although he felt her presence behind him. Disoriented was a mild word to describe what he felt. He had no memory of how he had come to be here after … after …

What he had discovered about Staefyn was suddenly more important than any dishonor he had brought upon the emperor's house. He spun to look at Lady Arora. "My lady! There is something I must tell you about Staefyn!" She had to know as quickly as possible what that horrible female had done to her son.

She reached out her hands to him, but seeing the faint glow in the depths of her golden eyes, he scrambled away to avoid her touch. His last memory of a Guerani touching him was still painful.

Amyr caught him. "Mother, he is terrified."

"Justifiably so," she said softly as she let her hands drop.

Shamara came to stand by her mother and Taeron felt his fear increase knowing that she was as powerful as her mother, but he could not struggle out of Amyr's grasp. When had the crown prince grown so strong when all he had ever done was laze about in his pillows with females?

"We have not disturbed his memories of the present, have we mother?"

"No, but we left him in the past."

In the past? What were they talking about? Why was Shamara dressed in black like her mother? They reminded him of the warriors of Meridon's clan on Ulfynaeus. Had their manner of dressing become accepted garb at the imperial court during the brief time he had spent in the hills with Staefyn?

Staefyn! Taeron was finding it difficult to concentrate because his thoughts felt as if they were scrambled which was hardly surprising after what Staefyn had attempted to do to him. What did surprise Taeron was that Staefyn had failed to lock away his memories. Perhaps he had not failed? Maybe Staefyn wanted him to remember! That thought comforted Taeron and gave him to courage to speak to his mother.

"My lady, Prince Staefyn has been bonded to Lady Xuxa against his will!"

He expected to see horror, but he saw only resignation. "I know," she told him.

How did she know? He had only just discovered what that female had done to Staefyn when they were children. But then his gaze dropped to her hands and he knew that she had taken the information from him. Lady Arora had never done such a thing to him before, and he was heartsick at wondering what else she had devined with her touch. Did she betray his trust in his mother by learning the truth about Lord Duo?

When he did not speak, she looked from him to Chaela who was standing nearby. For a moment she said nothing and then she suggested, "Why don't you take Taeron to his room so that he can rest?"

Taeron could trust Chaela because she was not Guerani and she had no reason to punish her like Amyr who still had him subdued with his arm across his neck to prevent him from escaping. When Chaela came to him, Amyr released him and Taeron wondered when and how the crown prince was going to make him regret his audacity for resting on his bed. He would be relieved to leave his room with Chaela, to get away from Arora and Shamara who were looking at him with their glowing golden gazes.

Chaela reached out her hands, and he quickly took them as Amyr released his hold, but when he raised his head, he saw that her eyes had become golden. Taeron could not snatch back his hands because he felt as if he had been spun in a web as her spell immobilized him until Lady Arora came to them. When she put her hands over Chaela's, Taeron arched back from the power that slammed through him straight to his head where he felt as if he had taken a blow during training.

When he became limp, Amyr caught him and dragged him back to the bed just as his mind was inundated with images that he did not recognize. He was caught in a raging river and he could not keep his head above water, not until he felt hands catching him, pulling him up and calming him so that he could breathe. His could not open his eyes for several moments as the images continued to assault him until he realized that he was reliving moments of his life over the last several years. There were so many happy memories, and yet there were memories so poignant that tears escaped at the corners of his tightly closed eyes.

When the memories had finally eased to a standstill, he opened his eyes to see that all four Guerani healers were holding him down. Lady Arora smiled at him and he felt instantly comforted. "I am sorry, Taeron. You lost consciousness earlier before we had time to realign your memories"

His brows drew together, remembering how he had awakened. "How do I know you have not erased any?"

Shamara laughed and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. "With four Guerani, how could we fail?"

He looked at her skeptically. "With you among them, Shamara?"

She blushed and hit his shoulder with her fist. "I haven't misused my powers for many years now."

"Has Dagan been training you?" He could not resist teasing her.

Chaela laughed when her sister sputtered with indignation. "I think our lord prince has been restored."

"Does that mean I cannot issue a suitable punishment for sleeping in my bed?" asked Amyr with a grin. "I already had something in mind."

Taeron nodded to the mat on the floor where he had spent many uncomfortable nights guarding him. "That is your bed now."

Arora took his hands and he felt her gratitude more deeply than in the words she spoke. "Thank you, Taeron, for all that you tried to do to save my son."

"I do not deserve your thanks." Not when he could not protect Staefyn from the evil of that woman. How was he supposed to feel now that he knew the truth? His duty would be to destroy Staefyn, and yet he felt even more reluctant than the emperor. Staefyn was the brother of his heart, no matter what he did.

Arora stroked back the hair from his face before resting her hand on his cheek. "There are times when we must do things that are abhorrent to us."

He sensed something that she was hiding, but she quickly withdrew her hand and looked at him quizzically for a moment before sighing deeply. Had she done something for which she felt shame?

"I am very tired and I suspect that I will have a very long night," she said with a short laugh.

Shamara and Chaela giggled while Amyr looked uncomfortable and Taeron even felt himself blush when he remembered what she was planning.

"Should I suggest to father that he take a nap?" asked Amyr albeit with reluctance.

Arora waved her hand dismissively and laughed again. "That will not be necessary. Just keep him away from Lady Trynity's potions."

Taeron rose from the bed. "You may rest here, gracious lady. I should visit with the emperor to give him my account of the skirmish on the road. Although I no longer have a need for the medicine, we take tea together in the evening after our meal. Amyr and Chaela will join us tonight and Chaela can pretend to make his medicine since she already has experience in such deception."

Chaela and Amyr laughed while Shamara and her mother exchanged a bemused look until Chaela offered to tell them the story behind their amusement. Taeron was glad to leave them behind and wondered if Lady Arora would have a chance to rest or whether Chaela would regale them with many stories about his stay on Teralon.

When he left his chamber with Amyr, his mind still felt cloudy and Amyr told him that he lost consciousness at the point in his memory where Staefyn had invaded his mind. Afterwards, he and Stryfe had carried him back to his chambers. They had not encountered anyone, so they did not have to explain that the lord prince had succumbed to exhaustion. Taeron wondered if anyone would have believed them.

Although it was late in the day, there were still many people waiting for a chance to speak to the emperor to air their grievances or ask for favors. Upon their entrance into the receiving hall, many heads turned in their direction. His memories had returned, but walking side by side with Amyr instead of a few paces behind felt strange to Taeron, and judging by the confused looks on the faces of the men and women in the hall, they did not know how to react to the change in their positions.

They were not in there for long before females pushed their way through the crowd. Taeron was regretting his decision to leave his chamber when Amyr nudged him with his elbow and indicated with a nod of his head that one female bolder than the rest was headed in his direction. Two others had taken hesitant steps forward, but seeing the young woman approaching him, they fell back to the protection of the males of their houses.

Keilana of house Caron came to them and as she bowed her head and lowered herself respectfully, Amyr looked at Taeron with raised brows before she rose and tilted her face to look up at Taeron. "Greetings, my lord prince."

He did not want to kiss the hand of the shapely, dark-haired beauty, but Taeron noticed the males of her house watching, and while he was even less eager to speak to her now that he had learned of the actions of house Caron against Lady Arora, he would not rebuff her when she was innocent, and like him, had not even been born when her grandfather had attempted to murder the emperor's mate.

Her hand was cool and limp in his, so he was glad to quickly brush his lips against her knuckles so that he could release it. Turning to Amyr to introduce him to her, he noticed that she wiped her hand on her skirt although she kept a pleasant smile pasted on her lovely face. He did not know how he should feel about what he had seen, so he chose to ignore what she had done since he had no interest in her anyway.

"You are not acquainted with Lady Keilana of house Caron," he told Amyr who started and narrowed his gaze at her. Taeron looked back at the female. "I am pleased to make Lord Prince Amyr known to you."

Amyr did not acknowledge her, but looked beyond her as if she were not there, and when her smile faltered and when she glanced over her shoulder, Taeron was irritated to see her brothers surge forward with frowns for them both. By the gods! He had not done anything wrong and Amyr's rudeness was going to cause an incident in the hall. Aevan and Caerl of house Caron had their hands on the hilts of their swords as they came to stand behind their sister.

"So you have returned, Prince Amyr," said Aevan with a curl to his lip.

Amyr raised a brow. "Lord Prince Amyr," he corrected him. "I have earned the title of warlord for my accomplishments on Teralon." His gaze dropped to Aevan's sword. "I noticed that you did not accompany your men on the excursion with the lord prince commander. Have you blooded your sword yet?"

The other man jostled his sister when he tried to move forward, but while Keilana stumbled and would have fallen had Taeron not caught her, Caerl seized his brother to keep him from advancing. Taeron could not deny that Keilana's curves pressed against him was pleasant as was the exotic scent she wore. Given her earlier apparent distaste, he was surprised that she lingered longer than necessary before Aevan reached out to snag her back to them.

She was blushing when she raised her pale blue gaze to Taeron. "Forgive me, my lord prince."

"You would not have to apologize if your brother was not such a clod," remarked Amyr.

Now Aevan had to prevent Caerl from attacking Amyr and Keilana was jostled again, precipitating another rescue. As Taeron caught her around the waist, he wondered if she had some defect that made it difficult to maintain her balance and he imagined a strong wind blowing her over. She brushed her breasts against his chest as she pushed away from him and he was annoyed by the instinctive reaction of his body.

Aevan reached out to grasp his sister's arm to jerk her next to him. He ignored Amyr as he nodded to Taeron. "We are pleased that you have returned from Teralon triumphant."

"Allow us to express our dismay that their princess chose to reject you," added Caerl with a sly smile. "Is it true that your bond has been dissolved?"

Taeron was taken aback by their bluntness.

"Is that any of your gods' damned business?" demanded Amyr before Taeron could speak.

The males of house Caron glared at him for a moment and then turned in unison to walk away without speaking further, pulling their sister along as if she were some recalcitrant servant. When they were far enough away and the other nobles turned their heads away, probably to gossip about what they had seen, Taeron remarked, "I think you played me right into their hands."

Amyr snorted. "Or rather into Lady Keilana's hands. You did not seem all that bothered to have her groping you."

"She was not groping me." She had not seemed to want to touch him but had been forced by her brothers when they shoved her into him.

Amyr smirked at him as he fell into step beside Taeron. "She is an attractive female."

Taeron did not respond. Keilana was a very beautiful woman with no equal at the imperial court, but he had no desire to for her, and he sensed she had little interest in him. But as they continued on their way to see the emperor, he noticed that other females seemed to have been intimidated by the marked interest the jewel of house Caron had shown him because they hung back. Although Taeron did not like the feeling that he had been claimed by that house, he was glad not to have to fight through a gauntlet of females to reach the emperor's presence.

The guards immediately opened the doors to Amyr and Taeron. He did not know how they had managed it, but Aevan and Caerl along with their sister had already gained an audience with Trey. Keilana stood demurely off to the side, her hands clasped before her, her head bent and eyes downcast as Aevan spoke to Trey. Caerl noticed their arrival and glared at Amyr who held his gaze with his own belligerent look.

Trey saw them and waved Aevan quiet as he stood. "I was expecting you sooner, Taeron. What have you been doing besides riling our allies?"

Taeron shot Amyr a dark look before responding. "I was reporting to the scribe." Lady Arora would tell him about Staefyn and Xuxa for which Taeron was grateful because the memory of the wretched female was too fresh and he did not think he could tell him what had happened without losing control of his own emotions. The Guerani had restored his memories, but that particular incident seemed as if it had happened only yesterday, and he felt as if he had taken a sword to the heart, giving him more pain to wound still so fresh from Dijana's rejection.

The emperor was drumming his fingers on the wide arm of his chair, his thoughtful gaze now on Keilana, and then he looked at Taeron. "I am told that the flowers blooming in the garden are quite lovely, but I have not had time to see for myself. Why don't you take Lady Keilana to see them?"

Taeron looked from the emperor to the open doorway at the side of his private reception chamber that led directly to the garden where he could easily see the flowers. When he looked back at Trey, he saw that he was looking studiously at his fingernails. Gods! Could he even try to be less obvious?

With an inward sigh of resignation, Taeron went to Keilana who had not risen her head. "My lady, will you accompany me?" He did not look back at Trey although he did notice that Aevan wore a smug smile of satisfaction.

Looking first at her brothers who nodded in approval, Keilana put up her hand without speaking or raising her gaze to his and Taeron took it to place around his arm wondering if it had gotten colder. When he headed to the door, Amyr fell into step behind him.

"Where are you going?" demanded Aevan with a frown.

Amyr looked surprised. "I am the imperial guard of the lord prince commander."

"Do you think he will find danger in the garden from which _you_ can save him?" scoffed Caerl.

"Snakes and such," drawled Amyr. "I would not want his attention diverted from the flowers."

The emperor coughed but Taeron suspected he was covering a laugh.

"Then I shall accompany the female," said Caerl as he moved closer to Keilana.

Amyr shrugged. "I can protect you and her just as easily as I can my lord prince, although my priority must be to the prince."

"Amyr," Trey growled in warning when Caerl stiffened at Amyr's subtle insult.

"My brother shall accompany the female while I speak to the emperor," said Aevan. "We have important matters concerning the future of house Caron for which I have been authorized to speak on my father's behalf."

Trey frowned. "Why did your sire not come to Imperia himself for a discussion of this nature?"

Aevan exchanged a look with Caerl that made Taeron wonder what they were hiding, but he said, "My father has not been well of late, but he hopes to come within the next few weeks to conclude our business."

Taeron hoped that their business did not involve him although he was sure it must. He would rather stay and listen to their conversation, but Keilana's hand on his arm trapped him into stepping out into the garden with Amyr and Caerl following at a discreet distance.

There was a path that wound through the beautiful display of flowers and shrubs. The well-maintained garden of the imperial palace was nothing like the overgrown garden he remembered on Teralon. Taeron wondered if Neria had already ordered that it be cleared of overgrowth and cut back so that it could be enjoyed more fully. Unfortunately, his thoughts wandered to the grotto and the last time he had seen Dijana. How could she send him away when she was part of his soul? But she had, and the sorceress of Norvana had removed what she could of his bond to her. She could never remove his love, just as she could not remove Amyr's love for Quynn.

"Is it true that you were enslaved by a creature called a Yolovian banshee and that you served her basest needs?" he heard Caerl ask Amyr.

If Caerl hoped to disconcert Amyr, he was going about it poorly. "She was a demanding taskmaster," Amyr said with a shameless chuckle. "I would offer to introduce you to her, Caerl, but Taeron filleted her."

Taeron heard Keilana's soft gasp and wondered if she was shocked by Amyr's remark, but she did not ask any questions about what he had done. Suppressing another sigh, Taeron continued on the path with the quiet female, and would have preferred that she speak so that he could be distracted by his own thoughts. He did not want to think about Staefyn and he certainly did not want to think of Dijana as he walked with another woman. What did Trey want of him? He supposed he would find out after this trial in the garden came to an end.

"Our men have reported that Lord Prince Taeron defeated and killed you, and you were revived by the spell of a sorceress." Caerl snorted derisively. "I would have liked to see that."

"Would you like for me to arrange for Taeron to defeat and kill you as well?" asked Amyr and Taeron heard Caerl make a choking sound. He was about to turn around to give Amyr a warning look when Keilana spoke.

"The flowers are lovely. There are no flowers at my father's home."

Taeron reluctantly turned his attention back to her. "There is an even lovelier garden at my father's palace on Ulfynaeus. His mate has brought back flowers from …"

"I would like to go back inside," she interrupted. "I am unused to the heat of your northern climate."

Before he could turn back, her brother moved forward and reached out to snag her arm. Taeron watched as he wrapped his hand around her forearm just as she drew her hand away from Taeron. As Caerl briskly escorted her away, Amyr came to stand beside Taeron and they watched Keilana nearly running to keep up with her brother's long strides, and when they stepped back inside the palace, Amyr looked at Taeron.

"I think Caerl enjoyed my company more than Lady Keilana enjoyed yours."

Taeron grimaced, but he did not respond, not when many of the warriors that had gone to Teralon with him had been of house Caron and he was afraid he knew why the emperor had sent him into the garden with the female. Keilana was beautiful, but Taeron could not so easily forget his feelings for Dijana. He intended to tell the emperor, but when he and Amyr stepped back into the palace, Trey came to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"That was not so painful, was it Taeron? Lady Keilana is a beautiful young woman."

"She has little to say," commented Amyr.

His father frowned at him. "And you had much to say."

"I was merely responding to Caerl. He was very interested in my adventures." Amyr winked at Taeron. "I was trying to distract him so that Taeron could charm Lady Keilana."

Trey snorted. "He was not out there long enough to charm anyone."

"I was charmed."

Now his father laughed. "Amyr, have I ever told you that you are incorrigible?"

"Many times, father, but usually shouting."

Taeron smiled as father and son shared a laugh, and then he said, "If you have no further need of me, my lord, I will spend some time in the practice yard." He wanted the distraction, from the revelations of that day, from his broken heart and from the fear of what the emperor had planned for his future.

Amyr accompanied him to the practice yard but he did not bring up Keilana or anything else personal. They worked until first sunset, attracting a crowd to watch which included Aevan and Caerl without their pale female. Amyr held his own when they were sparring, giving the imperials a show that ended with their applause although Taeron noticed that the males of house Caron had not reacted except to exchange an irritated look between them. Taeron did not usually enjoy entertaining the imperial nobility, but today, after hearing Caerl's veiled derisive remarks, he wanted to prove to the fickle men and women that Lord Prince Amyr had earned his title.

The emperor was busy for the remainder of the day, so Taeron did not see him until later in the evening by which time Lady Arora had slipped into her own apartments so that she could prepare for the evening. As she hid in one of the children's rooms, Taeron, along with Chaela and Amyr, sat with the emperor in the salon to take the evening meal. Midway through, Stryfe arrived with apologies that he had been busy and Taeron noticed that his brother had dust in his hair and he sneezed several times before Trey asked him if he were getting ill.

Stryfe shook his head vigorously. "I have been busy in the archives today."

Amyr frowned at him when his father looked puzzled.

"I thought that Taeron was telling you about the skirmish outside the city with Kai's men."

His brother looked at Taeron and for a moment they did not speak and then Trey narrowed his eyes at Taeron. Before he could speak, Amyr did. "The skirmish was short, father. And Taeron does not have Stryfe's flair for telling a story, so I suppose that gave him time to clean up that abysmal mess in the back room of the archive."

"The backroom is not an abysmal mess," muttered Stryfe.

Trey frowned at Stryfe. "Were you entertaining females in the archives again?"

Taeron watched his brother's face grow a dark shade of pink, but then he said, "It was a spur of the moment occurrence. I will try not to let it happen in the future."

The emperor grunted. "I shall have an architect design a proper apartment for you. That cot in the backroom was adequate for your predecessor, but you are a young man, and some day you may wish to have a family. I cannot continue to treat the son of my imperial guard as if he were a dried up old scholar."

Stryfe's eyes widened. "I am honored, my lord."

"If your father were here, he would probably tell you that you should consider starting your house." Now his brother's mouth dropped open and Taeron exchanged amused grins with Amyr until Trey said to Taeron, "You must have realized that I have not forgotten about my decree that you should start yours."

Taeron sobered instantly. "When Dijana comes to her senses ..."

Amyr grimaced just as Trey made a sound of disgust. "You will not make your house with a female that has to 'come to her senses'!" He looked at Chaela. "Pour me some tea, please. I am suddenly in need."

Chaela poured the tea. "Apolo says that mercurial females are entertaining." She handed the cup to her father.

He sipped the tea. "I prefer the constancy of your mother. Trynity and Larya made my imperial guards miserable."

Nobody reminded him that Arora had abandoned him in the human system, making him just as miserable if not more than the couples he had cited as examples. "Shall I prepare your medicine?" offered Chaela after a moment of tense silence.

He smiled warmly at her and reached out to take her hand to bring to his lips. "Have you become a biddable daughter, Chaela?"

She drew her hand away and gave him an impish smile. "No, father, but I am hoping the medicine will make you remember that mother is not as constant as you would like to think. Your bond is making you speak nonsense so I think you should have your medicine before you force one of the pilots to fly you to Bayman."

Trey grunted. "I suppose you are right." When she moved away to prepare his medicine, Trey looked at Taeron. "Lady Keilana is a beautiful female, and I should not have to remind you of the power of her house. Several years ago I made preliminary inquiries on your behalf after you left for Teralon with Amyr. Renaeld was more interested in securing either Amyr or Staefyn for his daughter, and after we received news of Amyr's death, his attention turned to Staefyn. Staefyn refused to consider her as she was yet a child."

"She is not a child any longer," remarked Stryfe with a suggestive wriggle to his brows.

The emperor smiled. "Indeed not, so when I was about to consider how best to persuade Renaeld to offer his daughter to my newest warlord, I was surprised that they arrived at court with their own offer."

"She is too cold for Taeron," said Amyr as Trey took the cup from Chaela and drained it.

Trey reached out to pat Taeron's hands. "I am not pleased by what transpired on Teralon, but you have gained useful experience from that female. Use that experience to thaw Lady Keilana." He yawned and stretched. "Now I think I will find my bed. Aevan insisted that we meet and discuss the future terms of the alliance with house Caron."

Taeron knew those terms included his own service, not with his sword, but with that female, and his heart felt as if it were torn down the middle, but he did not show the emperor how disappointed he was in the honor of being offered a beautiful woman as his mate. "My lord, you have said that you wish to hear the ballad I sang on Teralon."

The emperor sighed deeply. "Stryfe told me that it was very moving. I suppose tonight is as good a night as any."

They made arrangements to meet on their respective balconies after second moonrise and then Taeron left with Amyr and Stryfe to return to his own chamber. Neither men brought up the alliance Trey had mentioned with house Caron although they were both considering how he would feel. Nor did they speak of what they had all discovered that day about Staefyn. Taeron sat on his mat to meditate, to push away the anxiety he felt at being forced to give up Dijana. But as he tried to concentrate, he could hear Amyr questioning Stryfe about what he had been doing and the latter informing him that he had been searching the Guerani scrolls for the reason that Staefyn was still bonded to Lady Xuxa despite his enormous power. He had been unable to find any instance of bonding among the Guerani so they concluded that because the witch had trapped him before he received his power, he was unable to fight the bond.

When the second moon rose, Taeron stepped out onto his balcony and waited until Trey appeared wearing a lose robe. He did not see Taeron at first and he turned his gaze to the night sky, past the moons looming large and bright to a small bright light that was Bayman. A movement on another balcony drew his attention to Chaela who had also stepped out from her chambers to listen to Taeron. During the distraction, Taeron saw Lady Arora move to the shadows where her husband would not be able to see her unless he looked closely, so Taeron did not give him a chance before he started to sing. As he poured his own heartache into the words that told the story of the lost prince, he looked up at the night sky as the emperor had, but he would not be able to see Teralon where his heart remained, and when he sang of losing his soul, he could not help but look in the direction of the Guerani hills.

Taeron doubted that Arora had planned to start weeping before he finished singing, and when Trey heard her, he gave a startled cry of joy mingled with sorrow as he closed the distance to his wife and swept her into his arms. For several moments they held each other close and Taeron ached to imagine how it would feel to hold Dijana. Not wishing to witness their private moments, Taeron moved into his chamber, pausing at the doorway where Amyr stood silently staring into the direction of the hills where his own mate was held prisoner. Briefly he touched Amyr's hand so that he could understand his feelings, and then drew him into an embrace.


	62. Chapter 62 Crowned Prince

**Chapter 62**

"If you like the stones, my lord prince, I can send them to the jeweler to have them set in a necklace or bracelet for your beloved."

Taeron was moving his hand so that the brilliant green stones caught the sunlight. If Amyr were at his side, he would probably tease him and Taeron caught himself smiling at how he had managed to dodge his imperial guard in the hall so that he could have time to himself. For once the press of nobility had worked to his advantage and he had managed to put the males of house Caron between him and Amyr. Since learning of the role that house Caron played in his questionable birth, Amyr could not speak civilly to them and this morning was no exception. Taeron had heard him arguing with Aevan over some petty transgression, an argument in which Caerl had joined.

After leaving Amyr in a verbal battle with the house Caron males which would ultimately lead to him standing before his father yet again to listen to him urge him to control his temper, Taeron had gone to the marketplace. The activity, the sights, sounds and smells helped to distract him from the memories that plagued him since that day a week ago when Arora had painstakingly opened the doors of his memory that Staefyn had locked away.

Taeron hadn't thought it possible to hurt more after Dijana's rejection, but he had been wrong. He was able to maintain a cool facade, but the Guerani knew how he felt, and they felt responsible for his pain when one of their own had caused it. Amyr had been particulary solicitous, probably because he had been forced to witness his own behavior as a child through the eyes of another. He also had difficulty accepting that there was a strong bond between Taeron and Staefyn, one that could not so easily be broken. He might have matured in many ways, but Amyr could still be very selfish. Fortunately, he had his adoring son to distract him, and Yori knew exactly how to ease his father's anxiety from the pain Taeron felt. Yori reminded Taeron of Staefyn when he was that age and he knew that Yori would one day be as strong as his father's brother.

As an imperial guard Amyr's diligence was lacking since he had allowed Taeron to escape without his protection today, but then Trey had admitted that Apolo's worth was not in protecting him, especially not after Duo had taken that role and Arora was at his side. Apolo was his dear friend and brother. Taeron could take care of himself so he did not need Amyr lagging behind him.

Since his triumphant return from Teralon, the nobles had made no further attempts on his life, but that did not mean they were not planning a full assault. There were many that viewed Taeron with open jealousy because he commanded the emperor's warriors, and during the week that Trey did not leave his chambers so that he could be with his mate, Taeron held imperial court in his absence and made decisions in the name of the emperor. He would have to be deaf not to hear how offended the nobility were to have to abide by the decisions of Larya's bastard, and each time he was hurt and angered more, but acting upon his feelings would only prove them right in reviling him.

Now Taeron asked the gem merchant the price of the green stones and he was about to buy them outright, but a voice from over his shoulder made him turn in surprise.

"You should barter at least a little, son." Lord Duo stood behind him and Taeron noted that many people stopped their activity in the imperial marketplace at the foot of the palace steps. They were probably wondering if the emperor's disgraced imperial guard was going to lead an assault on the palace.

"My lord! What are you doing here? When did you arrive?" He grasped his father's forearm as his father did his before pulling him into an embrace.

"Trey did not tell you?" Lord Duo seemed surprised, and then he laughed. "I suppose I ruined his surprise. I had not thought to see you in the marketplace buying baubles for your females."

Taeron frowned at him. "I am not buying baubles for my females." Just one female and he did not plan for them to be baubles. He turned back to the gem merchant. "Send them to the weaponsmith. I shall have them set in a dagger."

As the merchant stood counting the credits Taeron had placed in his hand, Taeron looked at his father. "Have you come alone?"

Lord Duo had opened his mouth to speak and then Taeron heard his mother's beloved voice some distance away. "Take my purchases to the palace, and be quick about it!" She must have seen him even though he barely got a glimpse of her colorless hair that stood in contrast to the dark heads in the marketplace. She was headed in his direction and several steps back he saw Jeshed at a spice booth sampling something that made his eyes close in rapture. He was dressed finely in an embellished white tunic that only Lady Larya could have created. A handful of females stood nearby watching him with awe while Jeshed was completely oblivious to the stir he created.

"My lord prince!" Larya's escort did not need to clear a path for the beautiful governor of the first moon as she came to him because her presence made people fall away. Taeron drew her into an embrace and rested his cheek against the top of her head for a moment, the ache in his heart easing with holding her in his arms.

She seemed to sense his need because she held him tightly and Taeron guessed that Arora had contacted Apolo to tell him what Staefyn had done and that they had learned when Xuxa had bonded Staefyn to her. His heart ached to imagine how she felt to discover that the woman that had so mistreated her was yet alive.

Now he released her and she reached up to tuck back the strands of pale hair that had escaped bejeweled brooches that swept up the wavy white mass. There was no woman more beautiful, more elegant than Larya.

"You are here too?" he asked as he looked between his parents with a raised brow. "You are together and no one is bleeding."

"Only because of my incredible patience." She glanced up at Lord Duo. "He does travel at the pace of a sand slug."

"We could have moved faster if not for your baggage wain. I would have been here hours ago if you had not insisted on bringing every article of clothing you own with you."

Taeron could not help smiling to see them arguing. They filled him with hope and joy after so many days of despair. "Are you going to tell me why you are here?"

"The communications have been repaired and Trey sent the message several days ago that I should be here today and he asked that I bring Larya. I did not ask him what he has up his sleeve."

"He has his arm up his sleeve," said Larya with annoyance, and when she turned to look at the gems, Taeron exchanged a smile with his father over her head. "Such lovely gemstones!"

"They are from the Guerani hills," boasted the shopkeeper. "The lord prince has just purchased several."

She picked up a pale blue gem that reminded Taeron of Lady Keilana's eyes and she held it to the light. "Lovely, but flawed. Let me see the stones my son has purchased."

Taeron looked at his father as she picked over the gems and he caught him looking at him with the compassionate gaze that he had grown used to since his memories had been returned to him. Gods, he wanted to beat Staefyn senseless just for subjecting him to the pity of those he loved. "Apolo must have told you that we have been in sporadic contact with Quynn. Amyr spent several moments in a trance with her."

Lord Duo put his hand on his shoulder. "I know everything, son. I don't know how to feel about it, any of it. I don't want to be sympathetic to Staefyn, but after seeing the physical pain and the emotional anguish you went through in your separation from Princess Dijana, I can certainly understand how easy it is for her to manipulate him."

"Where is Jeshed?" asked Larya suddenly. She frowned when she spied him several paces away and that two females had taken either of his arms and were stretching up to say things to him that made his eyes wide. "Duo, for the love of the gods, rescue him from those whores or he will not come up for air until well after second sunrise on the morrow."

With a grunt, Duo headed in the direction that the females were leading Jeshed. Larya curled her arm around Taeron's. "Will you escort me to the emperor? And where is your imperial guard?" She turned her head in both directions to look for Amyr.

She did not find the explanation of what he had done to get some privacy nearly as clever as Taeron had thought it.

"You should not be so lax in your protection," she scolded him. As she spoke, Taeron noted several men wearing cloaks moving in the periphery, not stopping at any of the stalls set up in the plaza, so he knew they had not come to make purchases. "He may be a buffoon with a sword in his hand," she continued oblivious to any danger, "but like my beloved Apolo, he can sense danger."

As could Taeron, and now he jerked his arm from his mother's grasp and had his swords drawn before the men rushed towards him with blood-curdling shouts. He was concerned for his mother's safety, especially when two of them raced past him towards her, but his mother stood her ground although she had absolutely no training with a weapon. Blood sprayed across her before Taeron could react and seeing that his father had arrived in time to save her and that Jeshed whisked her toward the steps to the palace by scooping her up with an arm around her waist, Taeron concentrated on the attackers. He would not usually have difficulty dispatching the men, but he was concerned about the innocent bystanders in the marketplace, many of whom did not flee far enough away because they wanted to watch the emperor's imperial guard and the lord prince wield their deadly swords.

The numbers of men attacking grew, so Taeron knew one of the nobles was making his move on the emperor beginning with his imperial guard and lord commander. Taeron did not like fighting Calabrians that were not enthralled, but he had little choice. By the time warriors poured out of the palace to assist, he and his father had killed a dozen men and one remained that the imperial warriors had kept from escaping and dragged him up the steps where Taeron was not surprised to see that Trey had stepped out to watch the carnage in his marketplace. He frowned down at the man the warriors had dragged to kneel before him as Duo joined him.

Taeron went to his mother who stood a step behind the emperor. "You are not harmed?"

Her arched brow shot up in surprise. "You would not allow that, my son." She smoothed her hands on her elegant tunic and he winced at the splattering of blood. "Perhaps I shall start a new trend at court." One side of her hair was also crimson, but Jeshed must have wiped her face because his own tunic was also ruined.

"Who is your master?" Trey asked the man at his feet.

The man raised his face and Taeron saw the fanatical gleam in his eyes. "A man more capable of ruling Calabria than you!"

"That narrows down the possibilities," remarked Duo gruffly. "I cannot even think of one."

Trey glanced at him briefly then turned back to the man. "House Caron?" he guessed. That house had the resources to challenge Trey but had seemed content to remain in the south. Until recently, the lord's sons had not even returned to the imperial court after their obligatory term of training had ended.

The man spat at the emperor's feet. "They are not fit to rule a canyon beast's lair."

Taeron caught himself hoping that this insurrection was not directed by Staefyn, but the men that had come to kill him had no imperial training, and no imperial warrior would break his oath to the emperor.

The emperor named a few more houses. House Garlen, house Vaan, house Chasek, all houses who provided the emperor with many imperial warriors and who ruled large territories. Trey was avoiding the name they all suspected, but Taeron's father finally huffed in exasperation.

"Were you sent by Crown Prince Staefyn?" he demanded, seizing a handful of his hair and yanking his head back to force him to meet his gaze.

There was terror in his eyes as he looked up at the cold dark gaze of the imperial guard of the emperor, his bravado now gone. He seemed to realize that he was going to die very soon, and for a moment he remained silent as his lips moved to make peace with the gods before he finally said, "Warlord Kai."

The rebel's head bounced down the steps and reached the bottom before Duo put his foot on the body to shove it after wiping the blade of his sword on it. Taeron heard the emperor sigh with relief and he felt the same, fearing that Staefyn had sent men who might harm innocent men, women and children in the marketplace. He wasn't surprised that Kai would do such a thing, but he was troubled that the Varoonyan had not enthralled the bandits, that they had fought of their own free will. Taeron wondered if these rebels were more dangerous than thralls and just how many men living in the Guerani hills still refused to honor Trey as their emperor.

His father seemed to be thinking the same thing. "We should have done a better job of cleaning out the hills."

Trey did not respond as he watched the activity in the marketplace for a moment. He might be remembering how Apolo and Arora had begged him for leniency, that the deaths of so many in the sacred hills tormented the ancestors. The emperor was probably regretting giving in to them.

The guards that had come to aid Taeron and his father were dragging away the bodies, but the people were watching their ruler, waiting for him to speak, and Taeron wondered why he lingered on the landing above the plaza.

Finally, Trey turned to Duo, and Taeron was shocked to see him fall to one knee, lower his head and raise his hands to him.

"I beg your forgiveness, Lord Duo, for taking away the trust I had in you when you had done nothing to deserve it." He had said it loud enough for those people watching in the marketplace to hear.

"I would like to kick your ass," Taeron heard his father mutter. He leaned close to him. "You are not done begging for forgiveness."

Trey glanced up at him briefly and then blew out his breath and lowered his head again. "I beg your forgiveness for accusing your mate of doing harm to my people after all the good she has done for Calabria."

"That is a start," remarked Larya tartly. "You should beg your people's forgiveness for being a fool where Prince Staefyn is concerned."

"Larya," growled Trey who had not raised his head. He would not until Duo forgave him. "Stay out of this."

She looked as if she wanted to say more but she wisely pursed her lips together for which Taeron was glad.

Duo reached out to take the hands of his old friend. "You are forgiven, my lord," he said solemnly and the people in the marketplace who witnessed the event cheered loudly as the emperor embraced his imperial guard. But Taeron heard his father murmur to Trey, "By the gods, if you ever do that to me again, I _will_ kick your ass and after that, I will leave Calabria for good."

Trey held him tighter in his embrace. "I could never replace you, old friend."

They separated and Trey turned to look at Taeron. "Perhaps instead of inciting Amyr to near violence with house Caron, you should have taken him to the market with you. Then again, because the guards were breaking up their argument in the hall, they were that much closer to the door to offer aid."

"Where is Amyr now?" asked Taeron, now feeling guilty for manipulating him as he had.

"Appeasing house Caron with insincere apologies." Trey frowned silently at Taeron for several moments and then he said, "Do you know why Amyr has taken such an intense dislike of house Caron?"

Taeron did not look at his father because he knew that Trey would suspect they were keeping a secret, a secret Arora did not want Trey to discover. After the failure of their alliance with Meridon which ended with Meridon's banishment to the moon, the remaining male of house Caron, Renaeld, had quickly pledged his oath to Trey and hurried back to his lands where he had remained. Because they were the most powerful house on Calabria behind the emperor and his governors, Trey had little choice but to accept his oath then and the presence of his wastrel sons at his court now.

Larya saved him from giving an answer that would just lead to more questions. "My lord, can this discussion not wait? My son is drenched in the blood of your enemies as am I." She put her hand on Taeron's arm and he was grateful for the reprieve.

As he walked away with her he heard Trey ask Taeron's father if he knew the reason and Lord Duo suggested that one of the males may have insulted Amyr or his mate. That excuse seemed to mollify Trey although in truth, Amyr was avoided at court because it was widely known that he had come into his Guerani powers and they feared him. And no one would dare to insult Prince Amyr's mate when she was the daughter of Lord Duo. A slur to Amyr would be a slur on the two most powerful houses of Calabria. While his father's answer momentarily satisfied Trey, the emperor would realize that it had been no answer at all if he gave it any further thought.

When they entered the hall, the elegantly dressed nobles shrank back from them, viewing their blood-splattered clothing with disgust. Larya walked between Taeron and Jeshed who towered over her like giants. She did not bother to hide her proud, arrogant smile, nor did she look away from the males that viewed her with hostility. Taeron heard the whispers, tried to ignore them as he did his whole life, but they seemed to be louder today as they called her a whore and him a bastard. His mother's grip on his arm tightened and she gave him a warning look to make him realize that he was gripping the hilt of his imperial sword. Even Jeshed turned to look at him over her head and he could see that his brother was concerned.

They had almost left the receiving hall to head for the private apartments when Taeron heard a man mutter, "She may be the emperor's plaything and his imperial guard's whore, but she'll always be Xuxa's strumpet slave, regardless of anything her imperial bastard does."

Righteous indignation poured through Taeron, racing through his veins like liquid heat and he shook off his mother's tightened grasp to find the male who had spoken, shoving men and women aside who shouted in outrage or cried out in shock and fear. When he found the portly scion of house Chasek sneering with unrepentant haughtiness, Taeron pulled his dagger and he would have cut off his head had Jeshed not leapt upon him, knocking him off balance so that they both tumbled to the floor. There were shouts for the guards as Taeron tried to shove Jeshed off him, but suddenly Amyr was there as well, and the two of them managed to subdue him.

Wyrad of house Chasek had tried to escape, but the guards seized him and dragged him back to where Amyr and Jeshed had Taeron pinned to the floor. Larya stood nearby, her lips pursed in disapproval as she looked at Taeron, but he felt less ashamed for his loss of control than he did for not gutting the hog now squealing about the rough treatment at the hands of the guards.

"My lord prince?" inquired one of the guards, looking at Taeron. "What do you want us to do with him?"

They had not asked why he had attacked him and those that knew the reason looked disconcerted as they should when the palace guard did not question the motives of the lord prince. At that moment Taeron had the power of life and death over the man that had grossly insulted his mother.

Before he could decide either way, the emperor's voice diffused the situation entirely. "Wyrad, is your mouth proving you to be an ass yet again?"

Wyrad bowed deeply to the emperor, his eyes warily on his imperial guard standing behind him, his brows raised, his clothing stained with blood. The man's throat worked as he swallowed nervously and he licked his thin lips. "My lord, I may have said a few words that the lord prince took offense to."

"Such as?" inquired Trey as he folded his arms over his chest.

The color drained from the cheeks of the stout noble. Trey looked at Taeron who did not speak and finally to Larya. "Might you have overheard what Lord Chasek's son said?"

"I do not listen to the grunting of wasteland swine," she said. She did not lie, but she did not answer the emperor who frowned at her.

"I do."

As Stryfe moved forward through the nobles, they parted with the same haste and fear in their eyes had an imperial guard walked among them holding a bloodied sword ready to swing. Jeshed and Amyr helped Taeron to his feet, both still holding his arms tightly, the latter whispering a warning to let the emperor handle the offensive man as Stryfe came to the end of the cleared path to them.

The smile Trey gave the scribe seemed to make a cold wind blow through the reception hall. "I can always count on you for the details, can I not?"

"You … you would listen to him?" snorted Wyrad of house Chalek derisively. "I did not see him in the hall!"

"Otherwise your mouth might not have betrayed you?" inquired Trey with a glance at the sweaty red face of the nobleman. He stared at him for a moment and did not look away until Wyrad blinked at the sweat stinging his eyes. He turned his attention back to his scribe. "Were you in the hall to witness the events?"

Stryfe bowed to him. "I was standing behind that pillar," he indicated with his thumb over his shoulder.

"Hiding in shadows and spying on people! That is all you do!" Wyrad wiped the spittle from his lips with the back of his hand.

The scribe shrugged. "I was not spying on anyone. I was enjoying the company of … well, I will not divulge the name of the female for public consumption being that it has no bearing on what I observed."

Taeron noticed that the emperor was trying not to smile. He was angry that they chose to humiliate Wyrad when his method would have been more direct and satisfying. If Amyr and Jeshed were not holding him, he would have his dagger in his hand again for the way the loathsome beast licked his lips as he looked at Larya.

"Do go on," prompted Trey. His gaze briefly flitted to Taeron who read the warning not to interfere.

Before Stryfe could speak, Wyrad blurted, "I humbly ask the apology of the lord prince!" He fell to his knees before Taeron and lowering his head, he held out his hands.

Even without Trey's almost imperceptible shake of his head, Taeron would not forgive the man. He did not speak as he glared down at him. Nor did Amyr and Jeshed release him.

"Scribe?" prompted Trey.

"To begin I must congratulate Wyrad of house Chasek for his ability to insult so many people in so few words." He gave the groveling man a half smile which he did not see because he did not dare look up. "Where do I begin? Well, he intended to gravely insult Lady Larya, so he began by impugning the honor of the emperor by referring to her as his plaything."

Trey raised his brows and looked at Larya. "You, my plaything? I cannot imagine such a situation."

"Nor can I," remarked Duo under his breath.

"As I suspected, you both have little imagination," remarked Larya tartly.

Smiling, Trey turned his attention back to Stryfe. "Do continue."

"He then referred to her as the whore of the emperor's imperial guard, but he failed to identify which imperial guard, but I shall assume that he meant my own lord father being that she is the mate of your other imperial guard and cannot be considered his whore unless all mates shall then be considered the whores of their bonded mates."

Trey stroked his chin thoughtfully before looking at Duo. "Is this an offense to your honor, my lord?"

"Worse things have been said about me," he responded. Taeron was not surprised that his father would not defend Larya and his own anger was deflated by the amused look on his mother's face.

Trey turned back to Stryfe, ignoring the whimpering of the man who seemed to be trying to burrow into the floor with his groveling. "Do go on, scribe."

"He then stated that Lady Larya would always be Xuxa's strumpet slave."

Trey nudged the man on the floor with the toe of his shoe. "Wyrad, have you forgotten that I outlawed slavery many years ago?"

"No, my lord!" He had not raised his head.

"And then he finished by reminding all that lord prince Taeron is a bastard and lord prince Taeron proved himself one by attacking house Chasek." The last was spoken by Aevan of house Caron.

Ever so slowly, Trey turned to where Aevan stood. "Do you wish to cross swords with my lord prince?"

"To what end?" scoffed the other man, his eyes on Taeron. "No imperial warrior has ever wielded one sword with the skill he has and yet he can wield two." He bowed deeply to Taeron. "Forgive me, my lord prince, for daring to question your actions."

Taeron shook off Amyr and Jeshed to stand before Aevan. "You may say what you wish of me. My behavior reflected poorly on the emperor, Lord Duo and my mother."

"What do you suggest we do to Wyrad?" asked his father. "I think he has wet himself."

"Perhaps Lady Larya could suggest a proper chastisement," said Aevan smoothly as he moved away from Taeron to approach his mother. He took her hand in his, stroking his thumb across the palm.

She raised her brows. "My dear Aevan, you flirt with danger." Then she looked at Wyrad. "My son has yet to forgive him."

"I will not." Taeron would never forgive him for his words and Aevan was dangerously close to having his head separated from his body. Before Taeron could challenge him, his mother drew her hand away and gave Taeron a warning look. He had done enough to embarrass her this day.

"We are at an impasse," said Trey with a sigh. Then he turned to look at the nobles, sweeping his gaze across them before he spoke again. "Regardless of your personal opinions which are not worth the dung of a canyon beast in this hall, I respect and honor Lady Larya. She is the wife of the brother of my heart, the dear friend of my own mate, and the mother of the son of my heart."

He paused then and turned to Taeron. "Any insult to her is an insult to Calabria because from this day forward, all of Calabria shall revere her as the mother of my crown prince. "

The crowd fell silent, and Taeron stood in speechless shock as one after another they dropped to their knee to do homage to the newly proclaimed crown prince.

His father smiled as proudly at him as his mother and Trey went to him to put his hand on his shoulder.

"This is not how I envisioned making the announcement, but I can no longer abide by the slander they speak, not when I love you as my own son, not when Larya is so dear to Arora and me."

"But …" Taeron wanted to tell him that he was making a mistake, that he could not be his crown prince, but Trey leaned forward to touch his forehead to his own.

"I know what I am doing, Taeron. I have waited long enough to do what is right, and what has just happened in the plaza has convinced me that it is time to realize that Staefyn cannot be trusted. He has no control over himself and no control over his warlord." He raised his head. "You should not have to suffer the indignities these people feel you are due, not when you are the most honorable of my warlords, the most devoted of my sons."

"Give them a day or two and they will be back at it," remarked Duo under his breath.

Taeron wondered if he was caught in some Guerani trance, especially when he saw Amyr smiling with pride. "This is real," he said more to himself than anyone else.

His father held out his arm to Larya. "My dear, you look positively awful."

She curled her hand around the bloody sleeve of his tunic. "You are as charming as usual, my lord."

"Tonight we shall celebrate," Trey announced. "Lord Duo has brought a shipment of tea and we will dine on delicacies from Teralon." As they murmured with joyful excitement, more for the tea and less for sharing a meal with the emperor, Trey put his hands on the shoulders of Amyr and Taeron. "Now, my young hotheads, perhaps you should retire and make yourself presentable. If necessary, bathe in calming tea."

"I have done that before," grumbled Taeron, remembering when Chaela had tricked him into doing so.

"And I will inform my dear wife that we shall have guests for dinner." Trey chuckled as he walked away with Stryfe.

Wyrad dared to raise his head. His face was wet from weeping, his clothing drenched in sweat and he had soiled himself, so everyone moved away from him. Since he had insulted the crown prince and his mother, his company was toxic. He moved away quickly and he would probably return to his father, but news of his disgrace would reach Chasek before his arrival. Since Chasek was a staunch supporter of Trey, his father would not allow him to leave his estates. Good riddance, thought Taeron. The man's tongue was the sharpest blade he could handle and even that was done poorly.

Amyr did not speak until they returned to Taeron's chamber and then he said, "I did not have a chance to thank you for trapping me with house Caron again. The lovely Keilana was quite desolate by your hasty retreat."

"Gods! Was she there?" The female was like something stuck to the bottom of his boot that he could not scrape off. "I am in your debt."

Amyr laughed as he headed to the private bathing chamber. Taeron waited a moment for him to send away the female servants who had come to help with his bath. By the time the fifth female sauntered past him with a sensual pout, he had reached his limit of courtesy and frowned at her and dispensed with thanking her for her thoughtfulness in serving him as he had done with the others. In the past, the females would have been splashing in the water with Amyr before taking their games to the bed and Taeron would have had to try to sleep on the terrace with their noises keeping him awake.

When he entered the bathing chamber, Amyr was already relaxing in the bath.

Taeron frowned at him, but before he could speak, Amyr did. "You are not going to ask if I let them put their hands on me, are you?" When Taeron did not, he nodded. "Good, because I might be offended and try to hit you, and then you will beat me and I would have had to heal us both. Then neither of us would be in much of a mood to attend my father's banquet to celebrate your appointment."

Taeron removed his clothing, sticky from blood, and he sat across from Amyr in the enormous bath. "Five females?" He could not even imagine what he would do with five females.

Amyr threw back his head in laughter. "It is like being in the marshlands on Teralon and glutting yourself on those beetles. They are everywhere and you cannot stop yourself from partaking and when it is over, you feel worn out and sick from overindulgence." He frowned at Taeron. "Don't try to think about it, brother, because I know you cannot imagine being with anyone but your beloved Dijana."

Closing his eyes, Taeron relaxed as he thought of Dijana. "I will ask the emperor if I can return to Teralon, but first I will put an end to Warlord Kai."

"I wish you luck, Taeron, because you will need it if you think my father is of a frame of mind to consider the princess of Teralon. The only thing he wants from that planet is a food supply and access to the frontier worlds. He already has access through Varoonya so I would not be surprised that the next time they are attacked from the frontier he will wash his hands of them even if it means an end to the newly discovered delicacies from Teralon."

"He would not do that to me," muttered Taeron.

"You are not bonded. You can have any female and he knows it."

Taeron opened his eyes to look at Amyr who returned his gaze. "He would ask me to take a mate knowing that I love another?"

"My father would prefer for you to have the woman you love, Taeron, but he will not allow you to pine for a female that has rejected you." Amyr smiled. "Perhaps you should imagine a future with Keilana of house Caron. I am sure that my father is already imagining it."

"And you should imagine rubbing shoulders with the males of house Caron every day for the rest of our lives," he retorted. By the gods, he would not tie himself to an insipid female like Keilana.

"I am sure my father has some plan and you will be powerless to stop it."

The plan the emperor announced that evening at the banquet was not to Taeron's liking at all. Trey stood up near the end of the banquet in which Taeron felt as if he were served as the main course to the females who were presented to him throughout, barely giving him a chance to eat when males of this house or that brought a female or two for his consideration.

"As you know," he announced, "my heir has returned from Teralon without a bonded mate." His remark did not cause any stir in the people assembled at this rare banquet at the imperial court since they were well aware of what had happened on Teralon. Taeron noticed Shamara and Chaela with their heads together and he realized that they were quietly sharing a laugh. He wondered why until the emperor continued. "The scribe has prepared a statement to be read to all people of the Calabrian Empire that Crown Prince Taeron will entertain all suitable offers of marriage."

Taeron knew now why Chaela and Shamara were laughing. Their father was doing to him what he had done to them. By the gods! If his life had not been beset before by females, now he was going to have to consider them from Bayman or Varoonya. Then again, Teralon was a part of the empire, and Taeron dared to hope that this was the emperor's way of urging Princess Dijana to act if she still wanted Taeron.

As if he had similar thoughts, Aevan of house Caron stood in the midst of the sudden cacophony of excited voices, mainly female. "My lord, what of the female of Teralon who has a prior claim to the crown prince? Will she be given preferential treatment should she come to Calabria and insist that the terms of the agreement with their world be honored?"

"The princess of Teralon has no standing in regards to the treaty. The treaty has been violated and we have made a trade agreement to satisfy the conditions." Trey started to sit, a self-satisfied smile upon his lips.

"My lord," insisted Aevan. "You did not answer the question. Will the princess of Teralon be given preferential treatment? How do we know that the crown prince is still not bonded to the creature? A thrall? A thrall of the very man who sent bandits into the marketplace this day to attack the crown prince and his mother?"

Trey waved his hand dismissively. "I have given the only answer you will receive, Aevan, and you may send that answer back to your father."

The house Caron male persisted. "How can you ask us to offer our females for your crown prince when he may be enthralled by the Teralonian female?"

Taeron stood to answer and he hoped the emperor would be pleased with his answer. "I am neither bonded nor enthralled by Princess Dijana." At least not in the traditional sense although he could not imagine his life without her. He was brimming with excitement at the fantasy of Dijana rushing to Calabria to ask to be considered as his mate.

"Yet you courted her like a lovesick wasteland dog on Teralon," insisted Aevan, dragging him away from thoughts of how he would show Dijana his approval. "The soldiers of our house that accompanied you to Teralon had many stories of your foolish behavior towards the female."

Now his head was aching and he had trouble controlling his temper when he only wanted to think about Dijana. "The courtship was a condition of her father."

"But ..." Aevan did not get a chance to finish because Lady Arora stood although her husband had put his hand on her arm to keep her from doing so.

"House Caron has no need to fear that Crown Prince Taeron is bewitched. If you feel insulted by their treatment of the lord prince, then you are welcome to gather a force to take to Teralon to express your anger. As for Princess Dijana, after the courtship, she chose not to marry the lord prince and he respectfully withdrew." She gave Taeron a smile of encouragement before she continued. "Crown Prince Taeron will consider each female."

"A female of Calabria would be a suitable choice for his mate," stated Aevan and there were shouts of approval. The only female on Calabria suitable to be Taeron's mate was Aevan's sister, Keilana, and he knew it.

"All females will be considered." With that, she sat beside her husband who took her hand and raised it to his lips as he gazed into her eyes.

The matter should have been closed. Taeron was even considering excusing himself to either have Amyr heal his head or make a cup of Lady Trynity's healing tea, but Aevan was not finished.

"I respectfully request that Teralon not be informed." The man was an idiot being that he could not see that the emperor was flirting with his wife in anticipation of retiring, but he was also very astute in his perception of Taeron's feelings towards the princess of Teralon.

Infuriated at being interrupted, Trey slammed his hands on the table and stood, focusing his thunderous gaze upon the male of house Caron. "So be it! Teralon has nothing of value to offer the empire and we have already made the one agreement that is to our mutual benefit. The scribe will not deliver the message to Teralon, and there shall be no communication between Teralon and Calabria until the crown prince has been mated to the female of his choosing. If Princess Dijana arrives, then it will be the will of the gods."

To prove he would brook no further argument on the subject, he reached down to take his wife's hand. "This banquet has become tiring. Let us find a more entertaining way to spend the evening."

Even before the emperor could escort his wife from the hall, Taeron had urged Amyr to slip out with him. He was troubled by the emperor's edict because he had a slim hope that Dijana would realize her feelings and come to Calabria if she knew that the emperor was offering him to a worthy female. After all that they had shared, he could not imagine that she would give him up to another woman. Even though he was not bonded to her, the very thought of being with another sickened him, especially if that other female was Keilana of house Caron. There was little doubt in his mind that he would end up with her, that no one believed any other female had a chance. But Trey would use this ruse to make alliances between houses by joining them when they flocked to Imperia under the guise of seeking the favor of the crown prince.

Amyr did not speak until they were in his chamber and he had thoroughly searched it to be sure there were no females hiding. He sat with Taeron on the bed where he used his healing touch to ease the ache in his head and when he finished, Taeron flopped on his back.

His imperial guard lay beside him on his back as well. "I am not sleeping on that uncomfortable mat," he told Taeron as he stared at the ceiling.

"Don't snore," Taeron warned him although he knew it was useless. In the many months that Taeron had remained on that uncomfortable mat, he owed part of his diligence in being unable to sleep to Amyr's loud snoring.

Amyr took his hand and laced their fingers. "Do not worry about Dijana." Amyr had become very good at easing his anxiety.

"You heard your father," Taeron said after sighing deeply. "He has all but forbidden Dijana's presence."

Turning on his side, Amyr smiled at Taeron. "Have the gods ever let you down, my brother?"

Just to be sure they did not have a reason to start now, Taeron left the bed and walked out onto the balcony where he raised his hands to the stars. There he stood praying that the gods would grant him this selfish request, that Dijana would still love him and that they would guide her to him.


	63. Chapter 63 Missing Taeron

**Part Three: The Crown Prince**

 **Chapter 63**

This day started out like most recent days. Dijana awoke after second sunrise, but she remained abed dozing until a maid crept in to remind her that her parents awaited her for the morning meal and asked if she needed help dressing. Dijana rolled away from the maid and hugged her pillow as she tried to recapture her dream which was the mingling of a memory from Norvana in those days after Taeron had bonded himself to her and that one night he had spent with her during his courtship. The gods had surely meant to torture her by waking her before she dream could end to her satisfaction.

"Princess?" The maid was still waiting and turning, Dijana saw that she was holding a lovely gown of soft pale green fabric from a frontier world. Since Taeron's departure, her mother had given her many new gowns and jewels so that she would not have to wear Sharisse's clothing. Her mother called her beautiful and males watched her when she passed by, but Dijana had no interest in them despite her father's insistence that she choose a mate. The effort to leave her bed was more than enough to handle let alone a male that would make demands of her that she did not want to fulfill for any but Taeron.

Sighing, she dragged her weary body from the bed and after washing, she accepted the young woman's help in dressing and then went to her mother's chamber. Guillem and Valter were waiting outside. Her mother's ever vigilant guards had become her friends of a sort although her father wanted her to choose one of them as her mate. They had been at the northern palace for several years with her parents, so she could not blame him for hoping she would find one of the men to her liking. They were handsome males who did not lack in female companionship, but she was not attracted to them. She had even refused their offer of blood.

She could hear her father's voice raised. "Sleeping late again! I have better things to do while she lazes about in her bed!"

"Those things can wait for you to spend time with your daughter," her mother replied. "You can hardly expect her to be fully recuperated after such a short time."

"Three months, Neria!" he shouted furiously and Dijana suppressed the urge to wince from the sound of his voice. Both Guillem and Valter shifted anxiously, probably wondering if they would need to save the queen from her mate. Dijana knew that her father was all bluster. He would never hurt the woman he loved.

"Well," remarked her mother with a huff, "I think it would take me a little longer than three months to recover after everything that has happened to her, not the least the loss of the man she loves."

"Speaking of which, how in the name of the gods are we to fulfill the terms of the trade agreement? Our men cannot go into the marshlands!"

"You should have thought of that before you forced the lord prince to leave without his bride." Queen Neria had no sympathy for her husband's plight. Dijana had heard that several men had been grievously sickened by a foray into the marshland to seek what the Calabrians wanted by way of trade. "We shall have to ask the emperor to send his own men to harvest."

"We will not!" shouted Roehan. "I do not want those Calabrians back on our planet!"

"You are ruining my appetite. I no longer wonder why Dijana prefers to remain abed rather than join us."

Dijana glanced at Guillem. "You may open the door now. I think it is safe to enter."

When he opened the door, she forced a smile to her lips and walked in. Her father's wings were out and he spun to look at the door, but when he saw her, he tucked back his wings and his expression softened. "Dijana, you look tired this morning."

"Are you feeding?" asked her mother as she pushed around the fruit in a bowl on the table before selecting a juicy red fruit. When she took a bite and the juice ran down her chin, Dijana's stomach lurched and she had to swallow to keep from gagging.

Neria dabbed at her chin with a cloth. "Quite delicious. Do try some of the cerise fruit. I am told that the harvest was exceptional this year. You did not answer my question, Dijana."

Dijana had not fed since last taking Taeron's blood although many had offered when in the past Balak had forced them. But Dijana did not want to share that intimacy with anyone, and to her surprise, she had yet to feel any ill effects except the malaise she had been experiencing. She had little appetite in the morning and sharing the meal with her parents was a trial when she did not want to eat. Watching her mother eat made her feel queasy, so she looked down at her own empty plate. Fortunately, by late afternoon she usually felt better and in the evenings she was able to share a full meal with her parents although too much food would have made her sick after Kai's departure.

"I have not needed to feed," she responded to her mother.

"Nonsense!" her father barked. "I was told that you have been doing so since the Varoonyan invasion. Are you telling me that something in that Calabrian's blood has healed your affliction?"

"Leave her alone," snapped Neria. "She is a bit pale, but her maid told me that even when she was feeding regularly, Dijana's skin was colorless, even gray."

Dijana did not need a reminder of how unappealing she had been. Sharisse had been very willing to point out her sickly appearance and she had seen the aversion of the men and women in the palace too many times to ever forget.

"Perhaps the Calabrian healed her," Neria dared to say.

"Then we should send him a basket of beetles to thank him," snarled Roehan sarcastically, obviously hating the idea of being in the debt of the lord prince any more than he already was.

"We could if you could manage to harvest enough," remarked her mother with an arched brow.

Roehan spun to glare at her and Dijana held her breath, waiting for him to shout, but he suddenly relaxed. "I have made up my mind. Today I will leave for the northern palace for a few days, Neria, and I hope to come up with some solution to our problem."

He did not see Neria's disconcerted look because he had turned away. He came to Dijana and dropped to one knee beside her chair, taking his hand to raise to his lips. "I will miss you, daughter. Would you come to the northern palace with me?"

Before Dijana could respond, her mother snorted derisively. "Truly, Roehan, you are transparent. You think Dijana will find some way to go to Calabria in your absence? She would not be welcome, of that I am quite certain. What we forced on lord prince Taeron was abhorrent, especially after all that he suffered."

"Then he should not have bonded with my daughter!" Without another word, he stomped to the door without waiting for her answer.

When he had slammed the door behind him, her mother sighed. "At least he did not ask for your word that you would not run away."

Dijana frowned. "I would not run away. What you said is true, mother. I hurt Taeron and he had his bond broken by the sorceress." When her mother informed her that they had received word from their contact on the frontier that the service for which the queen had paid an enormous fee had been carried out, Dijana had not shown how hurt she had been. But late at night she sobbed as she let the pain of having part of her ripped away overwhelm her. Despite what she had told him at their last meeting, she had hoped that he would not submit to the sorceress. She could never expect him to forgive her now.

Neria was smiling at her. "His feathers are ruffled now, so I suppose I shall have to accompany Roehan. The telespace communications have been restored to Calabria and this morning we received the order to supply the emperor with the men agreed upon. I do not look forward to being separated from Roehan when he takes them to Calabria, not when he has been at my side these many years, but it is the price we must pay." She rose and went to kiss Dijana's cheeks, then laid her hand on her cheek as she looked into her eyes. "Rest as much as you like while we are gone. Perhaps I can talk some sense into him and he may be able to consider Prince Taeron again."

She wanted to tell her mother that she loved Taeron, that she found their separation unbearable, but she merely looked down at her hands. "He may be unwilling to see me, mother."

"Ha!" Neria laughed as she straightened. "Lord prince Taeron doesn't need a bond to want you for his mate. He is in love with you. Please inform the council of my departure and I will trust that you can handle any emergency." She marched out of the room and Dijana heard her mother tell Guillem and Valter to keep her safe.

After taking a few bites of food, Dijana decided that she did not feel up to eating, so she left her mother's chamber and after reporting to the council that her mother had gone with her consort to the northern palace to better study a method to harvest the noxious creatures that the Calabrian emperor demanded in trade – Dijana suspected they really wanted time away from her and there would be little effort expended in hunting beetles – she took a walk in the garden that was now meticulous according to her mother's specifications. Dijana avoided the grotto because of the memories that hurt her so much, not the least of which was the last time she had gone there to tell Taeron that he must leave her.

In the beautiful garden, she sat on a stone bench and she raised her face to the suns that were past equal distance. No wonder her father had been annoyed by her tardiness to take the morning meal. It had become an afternoon meal. Roehan had promised to train her to use her neglected chakrams, but he had no time as he spent most of the day with the men that would report to the emperor. Of late he had been busy leading men into battle in the marshlands to retrieve a certain green beetle with red speckles, blue water slugs with yellow stripes, large stinging marsh hornets that were the cause of much discomfort in the men who were not laid low by its venom, and murkwater spiders that were the size of a man's hand. Dijana winced as she imagined Calabrians gathered around a table eating the grotesque creatures.

At the image of them biting into the hideous spider, her stomach rebelled and she leaned to the side and vomited what little she had eaten that morning over the back of the bench. When she turned back around, it was to find a yellow flower so close to her face that she had trouble focusing on it at first. The flower was held in the hand of Guillem who seemed to be oblivious to what she had just done.

"Princess, you are as beautiful as this flower." Without waiting for her permission, he dropped on the bench beside her. "You see, it is golden like your hair and the green petals are like your eyes."

Dijana wanted to return to her room to rinse out her mouth and crawl into her bed after suffering body wrenching spasms. But she took the flower from his large hand. "I thank you for your kind words."

Guillem's dark handsome face was beaming with his toothy white smile. "I would make you a happy woman," he said and she realized that he was making a proposal of marriage to her. Before she could respond, he pulled a quill from his feathers and she barely had time to even gasp when he cut his arm and held it before her, his blood oozing from the self-inflicted wound. "My blood is red and pure. You may taste it."

Instead she turned and started heaving again, just the smell of his blood nauseating her.

"Princess!" he cried in despair before he started pommeling her back, not ceasing until she had pushed his hand away and was able to sit straight although her stomach was still cramping.

She swallowed when she was sure she would be able to do so without gagging, and then she forced herself to look at Guillem. "I am sorry, Guillem, but I will not allow you to think there is a possibility that I would consent to be your wife."

His wide, beefy shoulders slumped. "Is it Valter? He told me that you would prefer a man like him."

"A man like him?" A muscle-bound oaf that could not put two words together properly? She shook her head. "You may tell Valter that I would not be his wife either."

"But your father ..."

"My father is not choosing my husband," she said. Only her mother or the council could do that and Dijana knew Neria would only consider the lord prince of Calabria a suitable mate for her daughter. The council would have little say.

Guillem sighed with what seemed to be relief. "I do not mind so much losing you to Lord Prince Taeron. He is a worthy warrior and a gods' blessed man."

His words only depressed her more, so she thanked Guillem for his kind offer and as he escorted her back to her room, they came across Valter who had cornered a giggling serving woman, but when he saw her, he hurried to fall into step behind her with Guillem. Dijana turned her head to tell Valter that he need not make the effort to court her, that he could continue to flirt with the serving women because she would not entertain a proposal from him. Valter did not seem bothered that she rejected his suit. In fact, he sighed with relief and proceeded to tell her that he hoped the serving woman with whom she had just seen him, Jilain, would consider him. He had ample proof that they would were compatible in every way, and would she please not tell her father that he had been courting another woman when Roehan had wanted him to court his daughter. By the time Dijana closed her door on the winged warriors, she had been talked into speaking to Jilain's mother on Valter's behalf.

The days during her parents' absence followed a new pattern in which Dijana rose shortly before second sunrise so that she could begin her duties, nibbled at food brought to her room, forced her feet to the council chamber to discuss the minutia that kept Teralon running and she would then seek her bed for the afternoon. Without her parents there to force her to attend them, she could sleep as long as she wanted and she took full advantage of their absence.

She wondered if her fatigue might have something to do with not feeding from those that offered, but Dijana could not bring herself to do it. The urge to do so had disappeared completely and she was glad. Could the Calabrian blood have something to do with it? More than likely it had been Chaela's Guerani blood that had fought off the need to feed on blood. She wished fervently for Chaela's company because she had no one to speak to besides Guillem and Valter. The council members were reserved in her presence, so Dijana suspected they were wary of offending her because Neria's wrath would be spoken about in generations to come. During one of the morning meetings with the council, Dijana requested to use the imperial interplanetary communications satellite to contact Chaela, but she was outright refused, and when she tried to use her authority as the ruling princess to force the issue, she was informed that communication to Calabria from Teralon had been disabled by Calabria. If Teralon needed the empire's assistance again, they would be unable to contact Calabria so the emperor was washing his hands of the planet.

After hearing the news, Dijana left the council feeling more miserable than any day since Taeron's departure. She had hoped to hear news of him through Chaela, but now she realized that she would probably never hear from him again. Guillem had heard her sobbing and came to hold her as she cried, soothing her by telling her the many ways he would make the emperor of Calabria suffer if only the gods would give him the power to do so. During the recitation of dismemberment, she was able to gather her wits and she started to laugh as she imagined the faceless old emperor having his limbs torn from his torso.

After that day, Dijana started to feel better and when she rose earlier and managed to eat a meal, she talked Guillem and Valter into giving her lessons to defend herself. Neither seemed eager to do so, but Guillem finally relented. As Guillem worked with Dijana, Valter flirted with Jilain whose mother had been overjoyed to receive the recommendation of Princess Dijana for the winged warrior. Valter was looking forward to the formal courtship when the queen and her consort returned from the northern palace. Dijana hoped her father would not be angry that Valter preferred a servant to his daughter.

As she trained with Guillem, Dijana regained her energy and the lethargy that had taken over her life since Taeron's departure dissipated. She did not question why her parents chose to remain another week in the northern palace, nor did she care. Dijana enjoyed working with Guillem, and when he left her, she practiced on her own. Chaela told her that Taeron had spent hours and hours by himself, perfecting the moves the masters taught him. She worked herself into exhaustion, and when she fell into her bed at night, she barely had time to mumble a prayer to the gods to allow her sleep without seeing his face. Her body might be recovering, but her heart still ached for the man she loved.

Two days before the scheduled return of Queen Neria and her husband, Valter rushed into the practice yard out of breath to tell Dijana that a force from the direction of Varoonya was approaching Teralon. Dijana almost fainted in terror, imagining that Kai was coming for her, and Guillem's solemn vow that he would not allow the Warlord to recapture her did not encourage her. The Varoonyans had somehow known the most opportune time to attack their neighboring planet. Teralon's winged guard was already decimated from the recent civil war, the emperor had all but proclaimed the planet fair game for anyone strong enough to control it and to make matters worse, the queen along with her consort were still at the northern palace to which communication had never been established from Nidum.

Dijana hurried to the communications room in the council chamber where she found the four women and two men chosen by Neria to rule arguing about the course of action. When she arrived, they turned their arguments to her until Dijana finally shouted at them to shut their mouths.

"Has the Varoonyan fleet contacted us?" asked Dijana when they ceased speaking. She could see on the monitor that the fleet consisted of a dozen transports and her heart dropped. Even the invasion force several years ago was not that large.

"Not yet," spoke up one of the males, Dunston, a grizzled old warrior who looked as if he would rather be napping in the shade of a tree. "We did not wish to make the first move."

Males were idiots, thought Dijana as she looked at the female councilors. "Perhaps we should ascertain their motives for coming here."

Glorina, the eldest of the females responded with a frown. "The reason should be obvious. The Calabrians have proved us ineffectual and they must have learned of our disfavor with the emperor."

"How do we know that the emperor did not send them?" demanded one of the males. "Perhaps he intends for the Varoonyans to rule us."

"I knew marriage to Roehan would be a mistake," remarked one of the other females. "If it were up to Neria alone, that Calabrian war dog would have bred you by now and the emperor would be well pleased."

"Now we cannot even contact Calabria and because of the emperor's displeasure, King Dagan will not aid us either."

An incoming communication started to beep and Dijana swept the assembled council with a glare worthy of her mother. "I will not suffer your arguments as I speak to them. We are united. Is that clear?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded to the female at the communications monitor, and when she pressed the button, Dijana squared her shoulders.

The communication crackled and there was no picture. "Teralon, this is Princess Cydeara of Varoonya. My ship has taken damage and I request permission to land for repairs."

Dijana turned to look at Glorina. "Who is she?"

"Cydeara is the last direct descendant of the ruling house. She is the sister of Prince Rangyor."

"Do you think she can be trusted?" asked Dijana. She knew so little of Varoonya and hoped that the councilors could do their duty and advise her.

"Because she is still alive, Princess Cydeara probably cooperated with the provisional government of Lord Taeron," Glorina told her when the others did not speak. Dijana made a mental note to tell her mother that they were a worthless bunch of elders, then scratched it because she guessed they had been chosen exactly for that reason. Neria was not about to let a council of elders tell her what to do. Dijana would have appreciated more from them than speculation.

"Is that all you can tell me?" she queried, leashing her temper.

"We have no way of knowing for certainty, princess. Balak must have broken off contact with Varoonya after he made his alliance with the outlawed Warlord Kai, so there are no records of what has been transpiring there save that one of the Calabrian commanders, Lord Andwar of house Vaan, was to take the position of governor."

Princess Cydeara must have lost her patience because she spoke again and this time she sounded every bit as imperious as Neria. "My ship is damaged and I am landing to make repairs. If you do not like it, I will instruct my men to land as well and we will decide what happens from there."

Dijana took a calming breath and then said, "I am Princess Dijana. Please land your damaged ship at the southern edge of the marshlands just north of Nidum. Will you require technical assistance?" Dijana doubted they had any technical assistance to provide, but she thought she should make the offer.

The Varoonyan princess laughed. "No assistance is necessary. My own people can make the repairs. I will be landing shortly. If you send your warriors, they may escort me to the palace for formal introductions."

For a moment she did not speak because the council looked at her with expressions ranging from curiosity and doubt to outright suspicion from the males. Only Dunston dared to say, "Will you let them into the palace again, Princess Dijana?"

None of them defended her, but then Dijana did not deserve to be defended after what she had done several years earlier. "If the Calabrians put trust in the Varoonyan princess, I can do no less." And while the words rolled off her tongue, she could never truly trust a Varoonyan.

So she left the council with orders to remain in their chambers, and after sending Valter and Guillem with an armed escort to the southern edge of the marshland, Dijana quickly changed into an elegant gown with the help of her serving woman who swept up her shoulder length hair to arrange with jeweled combs. Although she now looked the part of the Teralonian princess, Dijana was so nervous as she walked to the receiving hall to await the Varoonyan's arrival that her legs wobbled and her stomach wrenched violently.

But as she sat on her mother's chair waiting, she managed to reign in her fear and she hoped she appeared calm as the doors swung wide. Guillem entered first, his wings spread and as he came to drop to his knee and put his hand to his heart, Dijana wished his wings were tucked in so that she could see the female, but she knew this display of respect was necessary. He rose and stepped aside.

The Varoonyan princess had dark hair and dark eyes, her skin a shade darker than Dijana's, and Dijana could see little resemblance between her and the beast Rangyor. Her dark hair was tightly braided and held back from her face which was breathtakingly beautiful. There were few pure-blooded Varoonyans like Rangyor and Kai, but they were all startling in their attractiveness. Her eyes were slanted under perfectly arched brows, and while she had long, thick black lashes, Dijana felt a frisson of fear travel down her spine when she met the crimson gaze of Princess Cydeara.

While Dijana was dressed elegantly, the Varoonyan female was wearing animal skins as Kai did. She wore a leather jacket that was short in the front but swept the floor behind her, and instead of a skirt, her legs were encased in the same black leather. Her perfectly curved lips were blood red and Dijana wondered if she had fed before coming to see her.

When she dropped slightly and bowed her head in greeting, Dijana noticed that she carried a whip and several daggers on her person. Her gaze went from the armaments to Valter who shrugged and she guessed that the princess had refused to surrender her weapons.

"Princess Cydeara," Dijana finally said.

"Princess Dijana." The other woman straightened and moved closer, sauntering with the assurance of a woman who had power and knew it. "I thank you for your hospitality."

"If your people need anything to repair your ship..."

"My ship is not disabled," she said with a sly smile and Dijana's heart began to beat faster in fear. Her eyes went to the weapons at her side, but she pushed back the feeling that she had betrayed Teralon again. Although she had badly misjudged Kai, she sensed that this woman needed something from her.

"Send your men away." The Varoonyan curled her hand around the hilt of one of her daggers and Dijana did not need to be told that she would fling the weapon before Guillem and Valter could even react if she did not do as she demanded.

Reluctantly, she nodded to the winged warriors, feeling guilty that if she died, they would pay with their lives. When they had gone and closed the doors, she looked at Princess Cydeara. "Why have you come here?"

"Why indeed?" Her brows raised and she raked her crimson gaze over Dijana.

"There is nothing on Teralon that would interest you."

" _You_ interest me, Princess Dijana. I know for a fact that you are preparing to head to Calabria. I would accompany you as my fleet remains behind. We do not have the resources to make the journey and I need to get to Calabria."

Everything that Princess Cydeara said shocked Dijana. "Why would I be headed to Calabria?"

The Varoonyan female made a sound of disgust. "What worthy female in the binary system is not headed to Calabria in the hope of attracting the notice of the crown prince."

"Prince Amyr is bonded and wed," Dijana told her. "You are mistaken."

"I am talking about Crown Prince Taeron," Cydeara said with impatience. "The emperor announced his decision to elevate the lord prince of his armies to that of crown prince." The beautiful woman sighed. "It is a shame because I had hoped to continue my special friendship with Lord Taeron upon his return to Varoonya. But when Andwar of house Vaan received his appointment from the emperor to act as governor, I knew he would not be returning and now I know why."

Dijana pushed back the hurt and jealousy she felt as she imagined the special friendship Cydeara had shared with Taeron. Taeron was not her mate, and it had been by her choice so she should not have these feelings. "Why have you come to Teralon with an army?"

"Because Andwar has chosen to back another for the throne that belongs to me! That Calabrian traitor sent forces to hunt me down and I was barely able to escape. I hope to ask the emperor to reconsider his appointment of Andwar of house Vaan, to persuade him that I can be his loyal subject."

"You fled Varoonya with an army large enough to control Teralon," Dijana pointed out.

"Why would I want Teralon?" scoffed Cydeara. "There is nothing on this planet of any worth. The only reason my brother tried to take it in the first place is because Kai had grown too strong and since he feared him, he hoped giving him Teralon would appease him." She came close to Dijana and her beautiful lips parted in a knowing smile. "You have Kai's marks all over you, and yet I sense something else. Magic?"

"I have no magic," Dijana told her although she shriveled inside to hear the other woman point out what she was to Kai.

"And yet you have managed to shatter Kai's hold." Cydeara whistled appreciatively. "He is strong and yet you have bested him. Kai will not be pleased. He has never marked another as he has you, and to have lost you?" Cydeara's laugh unnerved her. "How did you do it?"

"I do not know," Dijana told her and then she explained how Kai had found it impossible to feed from her after her stay on Norvana which did not surprise Cydeara who told her that the magical properties of the planet were probably responsible. She also agreed that the protective magic of the Guerani sorceress may have played a role in easing if not curing the effects of Kai's hold on her.

When they finished the short discussion, Dijana returned to the purpose of Cydeara's arrival. "We have not received the invitation of the emperor."

"Now that you know, you should contact Calabria to demand the reason."

"Even if Teralon were allowed to contact Calabria, which we are not, I already know the reason." Although she had no reason to trust Princess Cydeara, Dijana told her what had happened with Taeron, and when she finished, Cydeara stared at her with her mouth ajar.

"I presume that you know what you have given up," Cydeara finally said when she could find her voice. Dijana nodded miserably.

"If the emperor does not wish for me to present myself to Crown Prince Taeron, then I cannot," she said. "And my father will have made precautions precluding any flight from Teralon, so I cannot help you, Princess Cydeara."

"Then we shall travel on my ship and you will present yourself to the crown prince."

"You do not wish to present yourself?" asked Dijana, fearful of her response.

Cydeara laughed softly. "I have no desire to rule Calabria although I would enjoy ruling Taeron in my bed very much." She saw the heat that rose to Dijana's cheeks, anger from thinking of the other woman with Taeron and heat from the memory of Taeron in her own bed.

"I can see that you have some experience in those matters." Cydeara was studying her intently. "Since I do not, you can tell me how he fares as a lover. I often thought about it during those long, dreadfully boring administrative meetings over which he presided.

"I should wait until my parents return and ask their opinion," said Dijana without satisfying the other woman's curiosity.

Cydeara raised a brow. "Do you think they will allow you to leave? With a Varoonyan? To go to Calabria? To offer yourself to Crown Prince Taeron?"

Dijana did not need to think about her father's reaction. "I will gather some clothing and we can leave immediately."


	64. Chapter 64 Detained on Ulfynaeus

**Chapter 64**

The trip to the heart of the Calabrian Empire took many days, and for the greater part Dijana remained in the small cabin that had only a narrow bed set on the floor. If the princess' ship were any indication, Varoonyans saw no value in providing comfort while traveling in space. The artificial gravity system did not work well and Dijana frequently awoke from sleeping to find herself floating. The Varoonyans left her alone because they had discerned Kai's marks on her and she had come to realize that they feared the warlord as much as she did.

Soon after departure, Dijana had learned that Cydeara was a lying, scheming female. She had said that she was leaving her fleet behind, but the ships traveled with her, and just out of range of Bayman, she ordered their commanders to maintain their position as she continued on to Calabria alone. Dijana was afraid of what she had planned for her, and she berated herself day after day for letting the Varoonyan convince her to do something she knew that she must not.

As they neared Calabria, Dijana left her cabin to see the planet with its smaller satellite moons, all three vibrant blue and green spheres in the distance.

"We are being hailed from the moon called Ulfynaeus," said the man navigating the ship.

Cydeara took the only other seat in the small control center of the ship, and then signaled to the navigator to open the communication.

"Identify yourselves. You have entered Calabrian space."

"Princess Cydeara of Varoonya. I am answering the call of the emperor to present myself to Crown Prince Taeron."

A moment's pause ensued before they received a reply from the moon. "You have not sent advance notice of your intention as specified in the emperor's message to all worlds. You must land on Ulfynaeus before you can go on to Edgeland Fortress."

Cydeara opened her mouth to speak, but the communication closed on the other end. "Arrogant Calabrian bastards. We will go to Edgeland Fortress with or without their approval."

But they did not have a chance to act when a dozen Calabrian warbirds appeared before them.

"They have sent an escort," commented Dijana.

The glow in her crimson gaze was dangerous when Cydeara looked at her and Dijana wished she had remained silent. Better yet, she should have stayed on Teralon. Her parents would have discovered what had happened to her many days ago and she had little doubt that they would follow. She could not know if the Varoonyan fleet would allow them to pass and with their inability to contact Calabria, they might be destroyed. Why had she come here with these people? Why had she trusted Varoonyans? Was she so desperate to be with Taeron again that her own people should suffer?

Having little choice, the Varoonyan ship followed the fighters to the landing field on the moon. An administrator was waiting for them to disembark and he greeted Cydeara with respect before escorting her to the governor's palace. Dijana had never ridden a horse before, so she walked with the men who made up Cydeara's personal guard. She was wearing one of Cydeara's garments, an unadorned black tunic of animal skin over one of her own undershirts that reached her knees. She wore a pair of Cydeara's boots and not only did she have difficulty walking in the high heels, they were too small and pinched her feet. She had balked at the garments that the princess ordered she wear because the smell reminded her of Kai, but Cydeara warned her that she should keep her identity secret if the emperor truly did not want her on Calabria. Dijana worried that Cydeara had her own reasons for keeping her identity secret.

By the time they reached the palace, Dijana was so nervous about meeting Taeron's father that she was trembling and she was glad that she was following behind the princess where she would not be noticed. They had agreed that she would not reveal her identity, that she would remain quiet among Cydeara's guards and the Calabrians would assume that she was a servant. Dijana did not like hiding her identity after having done so before, but she saw merit in Cydeara's plan. As a servant, she would be ignored in the wake of the beautiful Varoonyan.

But the governor did not step out into the palace courtyard. Instead a woman with fiery, curling hair moved towards them. Dijana could see immediately the resemblance between her and Lady Quynn and the scribe, Stryfe. She was older, but still very beautiful and she smiled pleasantly as she approached the Varoonyan princess. She did not bow and scrape to Cydeara and Dijana could see that she was annoyed..

"Princess Cydeara, I am Lady Trynity of house Maxwell, the wife of the governor of Ulfynaeus, Lord Duo, the imperial guard of Emperor Trey. The candidates wishing to be presented to the crown prince must first contact the governor at Edgeland Fortress to determine their suitability. Lord Apolo then informs me so that I might properly welcome them before sending them on to the planet. I was not informed that you would be attending the emperor's court. I have already sent a message to the surface to warn … I mean inform them of your arrival."

Her change in words was not a mistake. She made no secret of not trusting the Varoonyan and Dijana wondered what she had been told. Had Cydeara lied about her reason for coming to Calabria?

"Am I a prisoner?" inquired Cydeara.

"As you will be unable to leave the planet and you will not be allowed to move about without the escort of an imperial warrior or two, then you may consider yourself a prisoner until I receive word from Lord Apolo that you may continue on to Calabria." Lady Trynity's smile was no longer welcoming. "Your fleet has been tracked since you left Varoonya. The emperor will be interested to know why you stopped at Teralon."

Cydeara's brows drew together. "I have only peaceful intentions on Calabria," she stated. "Have not all females been invited?"

"Your warlord has been gathering dissenters in the Guerani Hills to challenge the emperor," said Lady Trynity coolly. "I am sure you can see how your arrival with an armed force might be considered threatening."

"I would speak to the emperor myself now!" declared Cydeara hotly. "I do not have to explain myself to one such as you!"

"One such as me?" The governor's wife folded her arms across her chest. "I should like you to clarify your meaning."

"A Calabrian female," she said scornfully.

The other woman pursed her lips for a moment and then she said, "I fear that you are misinformed about Calabrian females. They have a great deal of power. My men will escort you to your 'guest' chamber, but we have other accomodations for your men." She glanced at Dijana who quickly lowered her gaze. "This female may remain with you."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and after signaling to a couple of men wearing the red and blue tunics of the imperial house, she crossed the courtyard and disappeared through the door to another wing of the palace. Cydeara had no choice but to follow the guards, but she turned and nodded to Dijana to accompany her. Gritting her teeth against the pain of her feet, she limped after her and they seemed to walk an equal distance from the landing field through the winding corridors of the governor's palace before the guards opened the doors to a chamber.

Once they had gone through the doors and closed them, Cydeara made a sound of exasperation. "How dare they accuse me of conspiring with Kai!? I hate that bastard! Because of him my brother is dead and I have lost my place in Varoonya." Her crimson eyes were flashing and she looked at Dijana. "Perhaps they will let you move about as you wish since you are not Varoonyan. Tell them that you are unwell, and they will take you to a healer. You might be able to find a way for us to escape."

Dijana wanted to refuse because her feet hurt. The boots were too small and the heels were too high and she had been looking forward to taking them off. With a sigh she hobbled to the door and when she opened it, she almost shrank back at the dark look the imperial warriors gave her.

Swallowing her fear, she asked meekly if she might be allowed to leave the room, and because her feet hurt, she did not feel as though she were lying as she asked to see a healer. One of the men told her to follow him and on the way, he sent another guard to take his post. He did not speak to her and he walked so fast she was barely able to keep up. If Cydeara thought she could memorize the corridors of the governor's palace, she would be disappointed. They passed through several wings, went through others and she thought they might have backtracked, but she was so confused by the maze that she realized she must be mistaken.

By the time they finally came to an arched door and he led her through, she had been ready to ask to be returned to captivity. Although the imperial did not show on his face what he was thinking, Dijana was sure that he had taken unnecessary turns just to confuse her. The room to which he had escorted her was enormous, with several tables covered with transparent pots. There were strings from corner to corner near the ceiling and crisscrossing the room from which hung drying leaves. Against one wall she saw machines that were hooked to a complex array of crystals, and on the other wall there were several small, narrow beds.

Dijana had thought to be taken to a local healer and had hoped to leave the palace, but she was surprised to see the governor's wife speaking to a woman dressed completely in black that reminded her of the warriors that had been among Taeron's personal guard.

"You have nothing to be concerned about, Falida. As your body adjusts to the changes the child brings to it your appetite will return. What you are experiencing is perfectly natural." She put her arm around the shoulders of the woman nearly shrouded in a cloak and Dijana could see that she was weeping.

"I thought I would be happier! I cry all the time and I am too weary to do anything but lie upon my couch sleeping."

"Is your mate displeased?" asked Lady Trynity.

"No," sobbed the other woman, Falida. "He is very happy, but he is worried that we have angered the gods by allowing you to help us."

"And now you can tell him that all is well." The healer raised her head and looked in Dijana's direction. "I see that someone else needs my help. You may come to see me as often as you wish, Falida, but I think that soon enough these symptoms will pass and you will feel better than you ever have."

"We thank you for all you have done for us!" They walked to another door and Dijana realized it was the door that the governor's wife had taken to reenter the palace. Dijana knew that the wife of Taeron's father was a healer, but she did not think the woman still practiced her art.

As she now approached her, her brows arched in question, Dijana suddenly felt panic because of her deception knowing that if she did make her way to Taeron, he would learn that she had lied again about her identity. He could never trust her!

"You arrived with Princess Cydeara," stated Lady Trynity, her assessing green gaze moving rapidly over her. "You are not Varoonyan. If I were to guess by your facial structure, you are Teralonian."

Dijana nodded, glad not to have to lie. Perhaps if she pretended she could not speak …

"I don't really need to guess. I am quite certain that you are from Teralon." She swept out her arm to indicate that Dijana should sit on a padded bench that was high off the ground. Dijana had to use a step to climb up to sit and her legs dangled off the floor.

"Because you are with the Varoonyans, you must have been enthralled. I am quite curious about the physiological changes that take place when one has been enthralled. But you have sought me, so I should help you first. What can I do for you?"

She felt silly telling her that her feet hurt. Lady Trynity removed her boots and as she inspected her blistered feet, she shook her head. "These boots are too small." She tossed them aside. "Surely you have more suitable footwear."

Dijana swallowed. "At the ship."

"Ah! You speak!" The healer straightened and Dijana found herself eye to eye with her. "I shall send one of the men back to the Varoonyan ship for your things." When she moved to the door leading to the courtyard to speak to one of the men guarding the door, Dijana looked around the strange room. She remembered Taeron speaking of Lady Trynity and how she wanted to help her, but Dijana was afraid to tell her who she was. If the emperor did not want her on Calabria, the wife of his imperial guard would put her on a ship and send her back to Teralon.

Lady Trynity returned and she had a small stone pot with her. "I have a cream that should soothe your feet. Ulfynaeus is rife with medicinal flora, so I think the gods meant for me to live here."

Dijana was surprised when the other woman began to apply the salve to her foot, but the cream tingled and she sighed with pleasure. Dijana decided not to speak, thinking that the healer might suppose that was a symptom of being enthralled. She did not want to lie and knew she might be forced to do so if the healer asked her questions.

When she finished applying the salve, she moved away to wash her hands, and when she returned, she was carrying a small tube with a long needle at the end. Dijana shrank back, but Lady Trynity smiled reassuringly. "Do not worry. I am not going to do anything that you do not consent to. I wish to study your condition, and to do that, I will need to take a sample of your blood."

"How … how will you do that?" she asked as she warily eyed the needle. She was beginning to feel light-headed.

"I will put this in your arm and blood will flow through the needle to the reservoir. Afterward, I will place the blood in my genetic analyzer to compare and cross-reference with other samples I have taken. That way I can eliminate the properties that I have already studied to see if there is something that was added to your blood by the enthralling process."

Dijana blinked at her in confusion. She had not understood anything she said after she announced her intention of putting the needle in her arm. Her stomach as churning unpleasantly and she began to feel dizzy.

Lady Trynity laughed softly. "My son, Stryfe, has a similar reaction to drawing blood. If you look away, you do not need to see it."

"I...I have seen blood before," said Dijana.

"Of course you have." She raised the needle and she gave her a questioning look. "This is to help you."

If she thought about it, she would refuse, so Dijana thrust out her arm and she tightly closed her eyes. She would do it for Taeron. If the healer could help her, she would do whatever she asked. "I will do it."

"You will feel a little prick and it may sting a bit."

When she felt the prick, Dijana gasped and the room spun so rapidly that she fell back on the padded bench and the world skewed strangely before everything was black. She did not know how long she was unconscious, but when she awoke, she was no longer on the bench. She was on one of the narrow beds and the Varoonyan clothing had been removed to be replaced with a shapeless garment that opened in the back. A light blanket was covering her, and she was horrified to find herself nearly naked. She could hear talking from the far side of the room and she recognized the healer's voice.

"... and if he finds out, well, I don't think we need to discuss what will hit the fan, do we?"

The voice that responded sounded far away so Dijana knew she was communicating with the planet. "My son has been dragging his feet, and Trey has been urging him to accept his fate. As much as I despise house Caron, his marriage to Keilana would be beneficial to us all."

Dijana knew they were talking about Taeron and her heart plummeted as she realized that she would not have a chance to present herself, that he had already chosen.

"There is no way that is going to happen now," Lady Trynity said.

"Trey will not want to fight a war over Taeron's choice of a bride."

The healer made a sound of disgust. "He fought many a war over _his_."

The man to whom she was speaking and who Dijana realized must be Taeron's father, Lord Duo, made a sound of annoyance. "Trynity, comments like that are why he doesn't like you at his court."

"Well, I have every intention of coming to the surface very soon, so I leave it in your capable hands to inform him of my arrival. Do not tell him anything else because that Neanderthal cannot comprehend anything about women. I don't know how Arora puts up with him."

"He already asked why Larya flew out of here like a bat out of hell on the first transport to Edgeland Fortress." Lord Duo laughed. "Arora appeased him by telling him that she was going to prepare his marriage garments, and when he told her it was about time, Arora told him to stop pestering Taeron, and after that there was a lot of arguing that, of course, ended with Arora leaving as well."

Lady Trynity snorted with laughter. "I hope she took his medicine with her. I have no intention of bringing him any." She paused and then said, "Do not speak to Taeron about any of this. We do not have the right to interfere."

"You know me, babe. I am not going to interfere in his personal life. I have always left that to Larya and she has done an admirable job."

There was a moment of silence and then Lady Trynity said, "She is awake. I have made arrangements for the children to stay among Meridon's clan while I am on the surface and Darlac will handle any emergency that arises."

Darlac? Dijana struggled to sit up, panicking because she was sure that Darlac would recognize her.

"I love you, babe. I have missed you and I will be glad when we can be together again. Watching Taeron's lukewarm courtship has made me long for some of your fire."

"I love you, too. Only a few days, Duo, and then I plan to knock your socks off, so get some rest and drink plenty of fluids."

He laughed. "Now I am wondering why I didn't hop on that transport with Larya. Oh, I remember why. I made that trip with her a few weeks ago, and I never want to do it again."

The healer was laughing, but Dijana was looking around frantically for the clothing she had been wearing, and not finding it, she clutched the thin blanket to her neck as Lady Trynity approached the bed.

"I thought you might sleep another day. You must have been exhausted."

"Another day?" Dijana's voice was hoarse.

Lady Trynity handed her a cup of water which Dijana promptly drained. "Princess Cydeara accused us of doing you some great harm." The other woman rolled her eyes. "I informed her personally that you were ill and she still insisted that we take you back to her room, but I thought you should stay here as long as she wanted you back so badly."

"She must be worried about me." Dijana did not know what else to say.

The healer pulled a stool near the bed and sat down. For a moment she merely stared at Dijana and her quizzical gaze unnerved her. Then she said, "I am not sure if you have come with a purpose or whether you were fooled into accompanying Princess Cydeara."

"I … I don't know," Dijana told her honestly.

Lady Trynity sighed. "This will be much easier if I stop dancing around the truth. I know who you are, Princess Dijana."

Dijana gasped. "Did I speak in my sleep?"

The other woman laughed. "You slept very soundly. I had several patients in and out of here including an infant screaming with an ear infection and you scarcely stirred."

"Then...then you must have discovered my identity when you studied my blood." Dijana knew she should not have consented to have her blood taken. Taeron would not care if his second mother could help her, not when he was planning to begin his life with the female called Keilana.

Again Lady Trynity laughed. "I could not discover it that way unless I had some blood to reference it with and when your mother was on Calabria, she refused to offer a sample."

"Then how … ?" Dijana was sure she had not done anything to give herself away.

"Some of the warriors on duty at the landing field were on Teralon with Taeron and they sent word ahead informing me of your arrival. To be sure, while I was testing your blood and you were asleep, I asked Darlac to identify you."

"I … I did not mean to lie."

"I do not recall you lying," said Lady Trynity. "I did not ask you for your name, did I?"

"I could have told you," she argued. Dijana felt very foolish for trying to disguise her identity.

The healer waved her hand dismissively. "None of that matters now. I am very curious to know the reason you would accompany Princess Cydeara. Do you know who she is?"

"The sister of Prince Rangyor," Dijana told her.

"And the wife of Warlord Kai."

"Wife?!" Dijana was both shocked and horrified. "Why … why would she bring me here?"

She knew the answer before Lady Trynity told her. "She brought you here for him."

"But she said that she hated him!" cried Dijana in frustration. Would she always trust people without questioning their motives? She would never trust a Varoonyan again!

"And she continues to insist that she was not leading an invasion force, but we have ample evidence from Varoonya that she is. That force has been contained by Bayman whose space fleet is much better equipped to handle them. By now the Varoonyans have been incarcerated, so Kai will be annoyed to find that his wife failed to bring his troops and his … well, I am sorry, but for lack of a better term, his mistress."

"I am not his mistress!" declared Dijana hotly. "He enthralled me! He left me for dead."

"His wife does not seem to care that he considers you his lover."

"I am not his lover!" Tears pricked her eyes. She had once thought she was in love with Kai, but she did not truly know the meaning until Taeron came into her life. "I am his thrall."

"You are not even his thrall," said Lady Trynity, confirming what Cydeara has said on Teralon. "I have compared your blood to that of thralls that have been captured. Since Taeron's return from Norvana, I have been studying the problem from a military tactical standpoint. The men enthralled by Kai had certain changes to their blood at the cellular level and … well, you need not be bored by the technical reasons. If you had those changes, and I believe that you did given Taeron's description, you no longer do. The effects have been completely reversed."

"I fed from Princess Chaela on Teralon," Dijana told her, embarrassed to admit to sustaining herself on the blood of another. "She must have healed me."

"Your blood has more in common with markers I found in Taeron's blood after he returned from Norvana. I had erroneously assumed the change in his blood had something to do with his contact with you, but I think something on that planet changed him." The healer laughed while Dijana's head was reeling with the news she was giving her. "There is something on that planet that has fired synapses to reach different parts of the brain. The odd protein in Taeron's blood is now in your blood. I think he may have healed you."

Dijana was speechless. Suddenly her future did not seem so bleak anymore. She was free of Kai. He could never control her to make her harm Taeron ever again.

"I have further news for you," said the healer after a long sigh. "Have you been weary of late? Have you lost your appetite?"

Looking away from her knowing eyes she said, "I have missed Taeron terribly. I have been sick with the pain that I have caused him. I love him and I sent him away. I should have listened to my heart instead of my father."

The other woman took her hands. "Sometimes we make dreadful mistakes, but this is a mistake that can be easily rectified. Taeron loves you still …."

"I heard you tell your mate that he will choose a wife."

She smiled indulgently, and now she clasped her hands in her own. "My husband will keep him from making that choice, Dijana, until you can speak to him. You have something important to tell him."

"That I love him?" Dijana remembered his frustrated anger the last time she had seen him and wondered if he could possibly still love her as the healer seemed to believe.

"No, princess, you must tell him that you are carrying his child."


	65. Chapter 65 Dijana meets Larya

**Chapter 65**

Dijana did not even have time to get over the shock she experienced from the news Lady Trynity had given her before the healer informed her that they would be leaving for the surface within the hour now that she was awake. While she had been sleeping, one of the men had retrieved her belongings from the Varoonyan ship, so Dijana was able to change into one of her own gowns and when she put on her shoes, she noted that her feet had healed and wondered if Lady Trynity had the same healing magic as Chaela.

As she waited for the healer to return, Dijana put a trembling hand on her belly, awed that she was nurturing life inside her when she had believed it impossible. Although Lady Trynity assured her that Taeron would have a similar reaction to hers, that he would be very pleased that the woman he loved would give him a child, Dijana was not so certain. She had told Taeron that she would not be able to conceive when he had offered to take precautions. Now she feared that he might believe she had lied to him. She did not want to think about how her parents were going to react, in particular her father. He would already be infuriated that she had left Teralon with the Varoonyans, sneaking away under Guillem and Valter's nose through the grotto tunnel. Dijana hoped they did not suffer for her actions because she had grown to like the musclebound winged warriors.

Because she did not want to risk an attack from Guerani palace, Lady Trynity took the Varoonyan ship to the surface. Dijana was already on the ship when the imperials brought Princess Cydeara aboard, her hands bound behind her back.

The Varoonyan glared at Dijana when they passed in the corridor and she struggled to stop to speak to her. For just a moment they faced each other and Cydeara said, "You will pay for this, you Teralonian whore! If Kai doesn't rip you to shreds and drink you dry for your betrayal, then I will."

The guards shoved the princess so hard in the middle of her back that she stumbled forward, but Cydeara caught herself and her crimson glare met Dijana's gaze one more time, silently promising retribution before the imperials dragged her from her sight.

As Lady Trynity suspected, the trip to the surface was uneventful, and Dijana was surprised that she piloted the craft. When they cleared the atmosphere, she directed the them towards a mountain range and then flew so low that Dijana saw a beautiful palace rising out of the forest.

"Keldar, I don't suppose there is any Varoonyan waste we can decorate Guerani Palace with."

The man sitting idly in the co-pilot's seat shook his head. "Regretfully, my lady, we disposed of it before taking off since it stunk so badly."

"We will buzz Prince Staefyn anyway, although a little Varoonyan shit would have been a nice touch."

"My lady, I didn't know you had such a mean streak," remarked Keldar with a laugh.

"Then you don't really know me."

The space landing port on the surface, Edgeland Fortress, had been warned of their unconventional method of arrival and since Guerani Palace was expecting the Varoonyan vessel, Kai did not send any fighters to challenge either. Dijana shuddered to think how differently this day could have ended for her if those that served the emperor were even a little less diligent. Princess Cydeara had not stood a chance against the Calabrians when Emperor Trey's people did not let anything in his empire fall beneath their notice.

When the ship touched down near the large, sprawling fortress, Dijana's stomach was fluttering with nerves at meeting Taeron's other set of parents, especially the woman that had given him life. Dijana knew that Taeron adored his mother, but he admitted to Dijana that she could, and often purposely did, wear on the nerves of others. Knowing that Lady Larya counted herself a friend of Queen Neria, Dijana was anxious that she would not shame her mother or Taeron.

Lady Trynity left the ship before her and Dijana could hear her exclamation of delighted surprise, so Dijana was afraid that she was going to make the acquaintance of the governor of the first moon at the space port and not at the fortress. Steeling herself, trying to hold back the nausea that had made its reappearance with a vengeance after she learned of her condition, Dijana ducked out of the portal and headed slowly down the ramp from the ship.

She saw Lady Trynity hugging a beautiful dark haired woman who stood with a very handsome dark haired man who received the healer's hug afterward. Dijana was sure that the other woman was Taeron's mother although she did not see any resemblance between them. Dijana waited with her hands clasped before her until Lady Trynity turned to her.

"I present to you, Princess Dijana of Teralon," she said with an encouraging smile.

Dijana could not move as she faced Taeron's mother.

"I think our guest is confused," said the dark haired woman. Her smile instantly put Dijana at ease and the nausea quickly dissapated. The woman raised her brows and turned her head to look at the man beside her.

"Did you do that, Apolo?"

"You were taking too long and I was afraid she was going to vomit upon my new tunic." He rolled his shoulders as if he were uncomfortable. "I told Larya that I do not like this stiff fabric, yet she insisted I make a good impression."

Dijana realized that the man was Lord Apolo, the governor of Edgeland Fortress and the husband of Taeron's mother, and she was dismayed to hear that the other woman was not Taeron's mother and she wondered what it meant that she had not come to greet her.

Lord Apolo, stepped forward to put his hands on Dijana's shoulders and she nearly jumped at his touch, but his warm grasp put her at ease. "I am delighted to finally meet you, Princess Dijana. Allow me to introduce my sister, Lady Arora."

Dijana gasped in shock to find herself facing the wife of the emperor, and she was overwhelmed when the woman came to embrace her.

"She is speechless," remarked Lady Trynity with a smile. "Did I not tell you that she has little to say?"

Lady Arora stood back to look at Dijana. "You are very pretty. I am pleased by the choice Taeron has made."

"You told him I am here?" asked Dijana, horrified that she was going to have to face Taeron sooner than expected.

Lord Apolo slipped an arm around her shoulder and Dijana realized that the calming effect of his touch was due to his Guerani powers. "You need not worry. None of us has told Taeron that you are here otherwise he would have ripped open the ship and carried you out and away before we had a chance to meet you. I doubt we would have seen the two of you again for several weeks."

As Dijana blushed and Lady Trynity laughed, the emperor's wife frowned. "You jest, brother, but we all know that my mate will be very displeased by this turn of events."

Their attention was diverted when the imperial warriors dragged the uncooperative Varoonyan princess from the ship. They brought her to stand before Lord Apolo who moved away from Dijana to face the crimson eyed female.

"Princess Cydeara, how nice of you to visit."

"Fool," she hissed at him. "When my husband rules this rotted system, I will see that you suffer daily for this insult."

He did not seem bothered by her threat. "You should have told Taeron where to find your husband when he questioned you on Varoonya many months ago. Now you will share his fate." Without giving her a chance to reply, he signaled to the warriors. "I believe we have some suitable accomodations for the princess. I will question her later."

The Varoonyan female gave Dijana a scathing glare again before they dragged her away.

Lady Arora watched her depart until she could no longer be seen and she was frowning when she looked back at her brother. "Do not mistreat her, Apolo."

He laughed. "I am incapable of mistreating such a beautiful woman. It is a shame that she is tied to a creature like Kai when she could have done much good for her people."

"Do not mistake her for a wronged female," Lady Trynity spoke up. "She is as manipulative as her mate. If ever there was a match made in the netherworld, it is that one."

"Regardless," said Lady Arora. "She is the sole heir of the ruling house of Varoonya. Andwar had to dig deep under that house to find another with only a drop of their blood."

"Yet the new ruler of Varoonya has been enthusiastically accepted," pointed out Apolo.

His sister's troubled frown eased to a smile as she turned her attention back to Dijana. She hooked her arm around Dijana's and said, "Come with me and I shall introduce you to the most powerful woman in the empire."

"It is not you, gracious lady?" Dijana was surprised.

"Gods no!" she responded.

Lady Trynity laughed with the emperor's wife and Dijana heard Lord Apolo chuckling as he walked behind them. "Lady Larya can lay waste to many a male in the empire," Lady Arora told her. "She is even better at browbeating my mate than I am."

"You are frightening her, sister," remarked Apolo from behind them. Dijana was, indeed, feeling even more nervous about meeting Taeron's mother.

"How are your children, Trynity? We do not see them often enough." Dijana was glad that Lady Trynity began to talk about her young son and daughter, Taeron's siblings. Dijana had only gotten a glimpse of them when the healer had entrusted them into the care of the black clad warriors. By the time they stood before the gate of the fortress, the three very powerful people in the empire were trading stories about their small children.

The guards at the gates opened them readily and Dijana saw them exchange grins upon seeing her, and Lord Apolo told her that they had served on Teralon and were happy that she had followed their lord prince back to Calabria. They walked through a practice yard where men were honing their skills, but they stopped to bow low, whether for the governor or Lady Arora, Dijana did not know, but when they started to hum, she stumbled and turned to look at the men when she recognized the melody of the ballad Taeron had sung for her.

"They love their crown prince," Lady Arora told her as she reached up to squeeze Dijana's arm. "And they honor you."

The large double doors to the fortress swung open and Dijana turned to see that a woman was waiting inside. She was neither tall nor short, with long white hair that was swept up in front and held with jeweled combs while falling down her back in waves. Dijana could not believe that the beautiful woman approaching her was Taeron's mother, and yet as she drew closer, she saw the resemblance between her and the man she loved.

Lady Larya held out her hands and when the women on either side of her released Dijana, she stepped forward to take them. The other woman did not seem to know what to say as she met Dijana's gaze and Dijana was awed by her beauty.

"This is a first," remarked Lady Trynity after a moment. "Larya is speechless."

Tears made Lady Larya's pale violet eyes glisten and Dijana hardly needed even that prompting to make her own vision grow blurred.

"By the gods, Larya, don't cry!" Apolo started toward them but he stopped when Larya moved to bring Dijana into her embrace.

"Princess Dijana! I am so happy to finally meet you." She held her for a moment and Dijana did not know what to say. Her heart ached as she imagined Taeron talking about her to all these people that loved him, and by their reaction to meeting her, he had much good to say. She hoped that she did not disappoint them.

After a moment, the other woman stepped back but she continued to hold Dijana's hands although tears rolled down her cheeks. "Let me look at you. You are radiant!" She released Dijana and after swiping at her wet eyes, she put an arm around her shoulders. "You must be tired after the trip from the moon."

"I slept almost all of yesterday," Dijana told her, but she let her lead her away from the others.

"You should rest anyway." By her knowing smile, Dijana knew that Lady Trynity had told Taeron's mother about the baby. She did not know how she felt about another person sharing her secret, but the arm around her shoulders was comforting.

"I am hungry," she confessed. "Perhaps you have some fruit or nuts?"

Lady Larya's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Fruit or nuts?" She shook her head. "No, no, no, princess! You need to eat a healthy meal for the child." She turned to look at Apolo. "Do we not have some of the delicacies left from Teralon?"

Her stomach lurched violently as she imagined a platter of murkwater spider and she could barely hear Apolo's laughter over the retching that left Lady Larya's lovely gown drenched in the vile contents of Dijana's stomach. Once the spasms settled thanks to Lord Apolo's soothing touch, Dijana was horrified to see what she had done to Lady Larya.

The other woman looked down at her gown, her arched brows drawn together a moment, and then she settled her gaze on her mate. "Do we have any fruits or nuts in the fortress? Perhaps you can take some to Princess Dijana while I make myself presentable." She smiled warmly at Dijana who was still horrified by what she had done. "You will feel better after you rest and have something to eat."

"I will show Princess Dijana to a room," offered Lady Arora and she came forward to tuck her hand on her arm again.

"And I will find her something to eat that will agree with her," said Lady Trynity.

Taeron's mother sniffed. "It is the least you can do after you bring her to the surface starving."

Dijana opened her mouth to say that she was not starving, but Lady Trynity responded first.

"You demanded that I bring her today, and gods forbid I do not do as you demand. And I offered a meal to the princess, but she insisted that she did not want anything to eat and since I know a thing or two about breeding females, I did not press her."

Lady Larya frowned at the healer for a moment and then made a sound of disgust. "I suppose you are uniquely qualified to find food that might please the princess." She looked back at Dijana who was still mortified by what she had done to Taeron's mother. "Do not trouble yourself, princess. I have carried a babe in my belly on more than one occasion. Lady Trynity is not Calabrian, so she may be able to find food that is palatable to you. After you have have been settled, you may join us in a meal."

Lady Arora came forward to hook her arm around Dijana's. "I will show you to a room."

Although she was surprised that the emperor's wife escorted her, Dijana went with her. "I hope she is not angered," she murmured more to herself than to the woman beside her.

The other woman laughed. "You could never anger Larya, not when she knows that you are the key to her son's happiness."

She led her to a large room with a comfortable bed which opened to a small bathing chamber. "Your things will be brought here, and were I you, I would bathe and rest. We have much to discuss before you go to the imperial court."

While bathing in the small, deep pool after Lady Arora left her, Dijana wondered what the emperor's wife had meant about having much to discuss. Dijana had not asked Lady Trynity more about the call she had overheard, but she was worried that Taeron's choice for a mate may have dire consequences for the emperor. The war on Teralon was awful, but she could not imagine how horrific such a fight would be on Calabria. She had heard her mother tell Roehan that to avoid such a conflict, the emperor had not sent an offensive against his son in the mountains. Dijana did not want to be the cause of a war on Calabria. She would rather return to Teralon shamed with the crown prince's bastard, and she would tell the emperor's wife so. Dijana would renounce her claim to the throne of Teralon, and if her mother did not have another daughter to follow her, then Dijana would marry Guillem and provide an heir.

After bathing, Dijana wrapped herself in the drying cloth and settled on cushions and pillows on the floor. Annoyed at first that there was no bed off the floor, she soon discovered that the arrangement was quite comfortable and she fell asleep before she could worry any more about what she must do.

The second sun was descending when Dijana awoke, and for several moments she remained among the pillows with her eyes closed. She did not want to get up to tell Taeron's family what she had decided to do, but she knew that she must, so she put on her gown and shoes and after running her fingers through her hair, she retraced her steps to the hall where she had first come into the fortress. Except for groups of young men and boys, she did not see the women, so she asked one of the least threatening of the warriors where they had gone. He smiled broadly at her before quickly gave her directions, and as she continued on her way, she was acutely aware of the many eyes of the warriors on her and that conversations had ceased to watch her with approving smiles that made her feel more miserable about what she intended to announce to Taeron's family.

The emperor's wife was sitting in an elegant salon with Ladies Larya and Trynity. The three were sharing tea and they were eating something that made Dijana's stomach violently protest the sight it, but since she had nothing inside, she was able to swallow her revulsion to the green beetles. At least they were not eating the hideous spider.

Seeing her, Lady Trynity waved her in and Dijana saw that there was a bowl of fruit near the plate of 'delicacies' from Teralon. Lady Larya left her place on the high backed padded bench and went to Dijana. "You look much rested, Princess Dijana."

"You need not call me princess," she told the women watching her. "And I am very well rested. I feel foolish for resisting you earlier."

"We have all been through what you are going through," commented Lady Trynity.

Lady Arora smiled at her warmly. "I am sure that you are planning to throw yourself on your own sword."

"Some of us do not carry swords," remarked Lady Larya as she drew Dijana down to sit beside her on the sofa. "You see that Trynity has found what you consider edible."

Dijana avoided looking at the many legged creatures on the plate as she took a pale pink fruit.

"I made sure there were no surprises in the fruit," Trynity told her with a laugh. "If you are not going to eat like a Calabrian, then I shall warn you now that if they have fruit on the table, it is riddled with things you do not want to see."

Dijana had taken a bite of the fruit and was savoring it, but she now looked in horror at the remainder in her hand and was relieved that nothing was wriggling inside.

"Foolish females," remarked Larya as she reached for one of the multi-colored beetles. Dijana looked quickly away and her throat tightened as she imagined her chewing on it. "There were many times when I was a child in the Wastelands that the tribesmen lived on the land. If you dig deep enough you can always find something to eat."

"You do not speak often of your childhood," remarked Arora after taking a sip of tea.

Larya's perfect brows furrowed. "I have little memory of those days although I remember hearing that the woman I called mother was not my mother. Her mate rescued me from the sands."

"Your father was very likely an imperial," said Arora.

Dijana was horrified although she had heard enough of old Calabrian customs to know that the imperial nobility once put their female offspring in the desert. Emperor Trey had put a stop to it, but as Dijana thought of the innocent babes that had been sacrificed, she put her hand on her belly protectively.

Larya shrugged. "Xuxa is the only mother I remember clearly, and since there were no females at the palace who were not there for the sole purpose of pleasuring the males, I thought the things she forced me to do were natural for females until you came to the palace."

Arora sighed deeply. "When I was a child, I did not even know you existed. We might have been friends."

Larya smiled sadly and reached out to pat her hands. "We had very different lives, Arora. We never could have been friends."

The other woman smiled and reached out to twine their fingers. "I would never have imagined so many years ago that the white harlot would be the sister of my heart."

For a moment they said nothing as they looked at each other and then Arora shook her head. "Apolo is right. There is powerful magic blocking your past."

Larya drew her hand away and she reached up to touch her colorless hair. "I have no memory of meeting any Guerani until coming to the palace, and even then I did not know that Dax and his children were sorcerers. Xuxa would not allow Dax or the emperor to see me because she was a jealous woman." She shudded visibly. "In retrospect, I am quite glad. I much preferred the younger males she sent me to seduce. The older ones were jaded and demanded acts that were repulsive even to a female like me."

Now Taeron's mother looked at Dijana who had listened to the conversation with mingled shock and pity. Taeron had told her about his mother, of how she had lived before trying to get the emperor's imperial guard to bond with her, but she spoke of her sordid past with no shame or disgust.

"You must have conceived my grandchild on Teralon," she commented with a raised brow. "When my son was courting you?"

There was a hint of censure in her voice and Dijana felt compelled to defend herself. "I was his mate."

"And yet you are no longer." She took a sip of her tea.

Dijana glanced at the other two women and realized that they considered it wise that they remain out of their conversation. So she took a breath and was going to explain her decision, but Larya spoke again.

"I am disappointed that my son was careless with you when he must have realized, given that he was forced to court you, that he might not be able to secure you as his wife. What sort of bungling male puts his child in a female that he cannot call his own?"

"I can think of one," remarked Trynity.

"I can think of another," said Arora and the two women shared a smile.

Larya grimaced. "I suppose I can think of a third. What are we going to do with those arrogant males?"

"You have no excuse, Larya," pointed out Trynity. "You could have sent Apolo away after you had made preparations to mate with another man."

Larya sighed and Dijana saw a dreamy look in her eyes. "I could not resist that Guerani rascal?"

"We are all guilty of succumbing to males when we should not have," announced Arora and she smiled warmly at Dijana. "You are in very good company."

Dijana thought it best to tell them now of her plan, so she took a deep breath, and ignoring the arrival of Lord Apolo, she looked at the females seated with her. "I cannot be the cause of strife on Calabria. I shall return to Teralon so that Taeron can marry a female agreeable to your people. I will marry my guard, Guillem, for he is very kind and I like him, and we shall raise the child. If the child is male, I will see that he returns to Calabria to be with his father, and if she is female..."

"By the gods! You will do no such thing!"

Dijana was shocked speechless when she recognized her father's enraged bellow.


	66. Chapter 66 Dijana's Dilemma

**Chapter 66**

Dijana turned to see that Roehan was standing just inside the room, his wings flared out behind him as feathers drifted to the floor from the speed at which he had unfurled them in his anger. Her mother was standing nearby, her lips pursed in disapproval, whether for her or for her mate, Dijana did not know. Behind them stood Valter and Guillem and Dijana could see that Guillem's mouth was ajar in shock and she cringed inwardly at what he must think of her.

"Neria!" Larya cried out in delight, and she left Dijana's side to hurry to greet the queen of Teralon. Dijana was speechless, horrified that her parents had heard what she said, at how they discovered her shame. When Trynity moved to sit near her, grasping her hand to give a comforting squeeze as Larya embraced her mother, Dijana was grateful though it did little to quell her anxiety at the arrival of her mother and father.

"You have heard what our children have done?" asked Larya as she held Neria's shoulders and leaned back to look at her.

"Just now," Neria told her and the two women embraced again with delighted cries while Roehan stood nearby with a scowl that terrified Dijana. "Your bungling son and my foolish daughter are to give us a grandchild. Isn't it wonderful?!"

"How can you be pleased with this?" demanded Roehan, his wings quivering with the rage.

"Put back your wings," sniffed Neria disdainfully. "This is not a battlefield. If you insist upon being rude, you can go stay with to the warriors we brought to the planet."

"I will not leave you females here alone to arrange my daughter's future!" Dijana had never seen her father so angry and by the surprised look on her face, neither had Neria.

An uncomfortable silence followed his outburst until Neria said, "Very well, Roehan, you may stay. But you shall retract your wings and behave in a civilized manner or I shall have Valter and Guillem forcibly remove you."

Roehan gave them a quelling glare, and by the looks on their faces, Valter and Guillem would rather not try to remove the prince consort, but her mother did not back down, so he drew his wings back with deliberate reluctance.

"Apolo!" snapped Larya, turning to face her mate. "Why did you not tell us that the Teralonians had arrived?"

"You females were busy discussing whatever females discuss, so I decided to wait until they had landed to bring them to you. I did not think we would come upon Princess Dijana announcing her future plans and that her parents would not be in agreement." Apolo seemed more amused than apologetic for the untimely arrival.

"Why would we be in agreement with such a plan?" Her father's voice seemed to reverberate off the walls.

The dark look Roehan gave Dijana suddenly infuriated her, and shaking off the comforting hand of the healer, she shot to her feet with her fists clenched at her side as she faced him. "I will not let _you_ make any more decisions for me!"

"If what you have decided to do with your life and your child is any indication of your ability to make decisions," he roared at her. "then you need me to decide what is best for you for the rest of your life!"

He advanced towards her, but Dijana stood her ground with her chin raised. "I should not have listened to you on Teralon! I should not have sent Taeron away!" By the gods, she hated this overbearing, overprotective hypocrite!

"You should not have invited him into your bed!"

"Roehan!" Now her mother was furious. "This is neither the time nor place for this discussion."

"This is not a discussion," remarked Trynity as she folded her arms over her chest and sat back. "This is an argument."

"Trey would call it entertainment," commented Arora as she leaned forward to pour herself more tea. "I will have to give Stryfe the details so that he can entertain my mate with this story when he might be more amenable."

Roehan swung to look at Dijana's mother."Gods, Neria! Are you defending that Calabrian bastard after what he did to my daughter?"

But Lady Larya cleared her throat. "That Calabrian bastard is _my_ bastard," she said pertly. "I did not raise my son to violate females, so I shall assume that he received a warm welcome when he was invited to your daughter's bed so he did not _do_ anything to her that she did not want."

Roehan spun to glare at her, and Apolo moved quickly to stand between them. Dijana noted that Lady Larya did not cower and she wondered if the woman feared any man.

Her Guerani mate reached out quickly to snag one of the prince consort's hands. "Perhaps you should have some tea with us and you will feel a bit more relaxed. You can see that Dijana is safe and that she has not been harmed by the Varoonyans. We were able to thwart whatever plans they had for her."

To Dijana's surprise, her father's shoulders sagged and his wings retracted. "You are right," he said with a sigh and he ran a shaking hand through his golden hair. "I have not been able to rest knowing that my daughter left with the Varoonyans. I was afraid … afraid that she was in Warlord Kai's hands again."

His agonized words touched Dijana and Neria reached out to take one of his hands to comfort him. "We have both been terrified for our daughter's safety."

Dijana now felt selfish for what she had done and for her childish behavior only a moment ago. Knowing what she did now about Princess Cydeara, her parents had ample reason to worry about her safety and only the Calabrians stood between her and Warlord Kai.

"I am sorry for what I did. I should not have left Teralon without consulting you." Now she went to her father and took his free hand. "Forgive me, father, for my harsh words. I should not have spoken to you as I did."

"No," agreed Neria before he could respond. "You should not have. You owe Guillem and Valter an apology as well. They trusted you and you sorely abused that trust with your rash behavior."

Looking at her personal guards, Dijana spoke to Valter first, "I am very sorry that I have ruined your plans to be wed before harvest."

"I am only glad that you are safe." He grunted although she sensed he was not pleased to have to travel so far to rescue her. Because of her, his marriage might have to wait until after tilling or even fallow season depending on how long he would be required to remain on Calabria.

She looked at Guillem whose mouth was still ajar after hearing her plans for him. Before she could speak, he blurted, "I cannot be your mate, princess! You are like a sister to me!"

Neria nodded in agreement. "Guillem is a capable warrior, but I doubt you ever imagined him as a lover, Dijana, and it would be unkind of you to trap him in a loveless marriage."

Her father found his voice again. "The only male that you will wed is that …that ..." Roehan glanced at Larya whose brows were raised as she waited for his insult before he amended, "You will wed the father of your child. If you carry a female ..."

"She does," said Apolo and Arora at the same time.

"At least I could keep that a secret," muttered Trynity.

"By the gods!" cried Neria in joy. Her lovely wings unfurled, and she released her husband to pull Dijana into her embrace and her dark wings came around her. As she kissed her cheeks , Dijana was shocked that her father had joined in the embrace and for several moments they held her enfolded within their wings.

"They are that pleased by a female?" Dijana heard Larya ask.

"Should your granddaughter have wings, she will one day rule Teralon," Apolo told her as he put his arm around her shoulders. "I don't doubt that your grandson will rule Calabria as well."

"Oh!" Larya seemed startled. "I never dreamed such a thing possible. I only want my son to be happy."

Trynity stood up. "I see that I must be the voice of reason in this room. You are celebrating prematurely. I, more than any of you, know how Trey reacts to these situations. Because I did not trust Duo, Trey does not completely accept me although we were friends on Earth, and he has yet to acknowledge my daughter as his son's wife even though he witnessed their exchange of oaths."

"She is right," concurred Arora, going to stand by Trynity. "We have had many arguments about female inconstancy."

"Unfortunately I have yet to persuade Trey that their whimsy is what makes females so delightful," remarked Apolo with a smile directed at his wife.

"Whimsy?" she raised her brows. "You shall have to explain just what you mean by that!"

Her mate shifted uncomfortably under her direct gaze. "My beloved, I never know what you are going to do from one moment to the next. You never cease to fascinate me."

Arora laughed. "I think you should stop, brother, before your tongue becomes tied and you say something you shall regret."

"I do not want his tongue tied," admitted Larya with a frown.

"Then I shall save it for more useful purposes than speaking," he said with a smile that made Dijana blush, her father frown and her mother share a laugh with Larya.

"I fear Trey has more of Zeno in him than he cares to admit," said Larya after returning Apolo's smile. "And we cannot predict how Taeron will react to Dijana's arrival."

"He was very hurt when he returned from Teralon," agreed Trynity and Dijana felt her heart ache as she remembered how he had watched her leave him in the grotto in her father's arms that day . Dijana wished the gods would give those moments back to her because she would stay with him this time and ask him to hold her and never let her go.

"Taeron is much like Shamara," sighed Arora. "He will do what is expected of him at the expense of his own happiness, and I am sorry to say that my mate will take advantage of his loyalty."

"Your mate is a boor at times," commented Larya sympathetically.

"He has been since he was a child." The emperor's wife let out a long-suffering sigh. "But in this, he has little choice. Over the years we have become increasingly dependent on house Caron and now they want what they feel they are due. Taeron understands that beginning his house with Keilana is wise because an alliance with them will bring many imperial trained warriors under the control of the crown prince. Many of the soldiers have blooded their swords on Teralon and Varoonya, so they bring no small amount of experience. Should Trey wish to subdue the frontier worlds to stop their increasingly frequent forways into Calabrian space, he will need those warriors."

"At least we managed to make allies by pairing the rejected females with the many males that arrived at court seeking suitable mates," pointed out Apolo. "In the last few weeks we have matched several houses whose loyalty to the emperor has been strengthened."

"We will need those allies now," said Arora.

"My solution was best," interrupted Dijana without looking at her parents. Teralon was nothing compared to the powerful Calabrian house.

Larya tisked. "That is not an option I would consider, nor will Taeron when he learns of the babe."

"He need not know," suggested Dijana.

She was unprepared for the cacophony of refusals to go along with her plan, for the strong females in her presence had all once tried to do the same thing. Now she understood why Lady Arora had remarked that she was planning to fall on her sword because they had all tried it and caused their mates unnecessary heartache.

Finally, after they had exhausted all their reasons for her not to keep the news from Taeron, Dijana yielded, but she told them that she would persuade Taeron to see reason. If marriage to the Calabrian female would maintain the peace and stability of the empire, Dijana thought her future happiness was a small price to pay. Taeron would need the men of house Caron if he were to challenge the rebellious prince in the mountains, and once he bonded with the other female, he would not care about Dijana anymore. The thought of him with another woman was agonizing, but Dijana knew that she must bear it. Holding his child in her arms would ease the ache.

Lady Arora took her hands and Dijana felt her fierce determination. "Taeron will not marry into house Caron. I will not allow it, Dijana. The gods meant for you to be his mate."

Although her father did not want to leave her side and he looked as though he wanted to say more, Roehan seemed to remember his place among females and remained quiet. Apolo convinced him that he should rest after the journey from Teralon and since Neria looked exhausted, Roehan relented after warning Guillem and Valter to stay near Dijana, that he would not tolerate another lapse in their duties. Dijana apologized to them again and promised that she would not sneak away from them, and then she went with her parents who wanted to know everything that had happened to her in the time since she left Teralon with the Varoonyans. She could see that her father wanted to scold her, but Neria's glare kept him in check although his scowl unnerved her as he paced the spacious chamber they had been given.

When she finished speaking, her mother took her hands and squeezed them. "I know that I speak for your father when I say we are relieved that you are safe."

"She was safe in the palace on Teralon," muttered Roehan.

They watched him pace, clenching and unclenching his fists for several moments before Neria said, "You might as well say what you think you need to say."

When he stopped to look at them, Dijana was touched by the emotion on his face. "I never hoped to have children after I devoted my life to Neria, but ever since I learned the truth about you, Dijana, I have tried to be a good father. But you do not want me to be your father and have cut me out of your life without giving me a chance."

Dijana's heart swelled and tears pricked her eyes. Her father loved her and she had done nothing but reject him since he had entered her life. Her only excuse could be that Balak had never shown her any affection and she did not want to hope that she could expect different from Roehan.

"You are being far too melodramatic, Roehan." Neria said dismissively. "Dijana is not a child. She certainly does not need you smothering her."

"I want what is best for my daughter."

Dijana went to him and put her hand on his arm and she was surprised that he relaxed under her touch. "You want what _you_ think is best for me."

He put his large hand over hers. "Do you think you can be happy with Crown Prince Taeron?"

She could not help the tears as she nodded, and he drew her into an embrace as she wept, and when her sobs had subsided, he stoked her hair and said, "I will do whatever I can to help you, Dijana."

They spent the evening with Taeron's family making plans for her arrival at the imperial court although Dijana was dismayed to learn that the emperor was meeting with the males of house Caron to negotiate the marriage between their female and the crown prince. Dijana soon grew weary and her father walked with her back to her room and did not leave until she was comfortably settled. They left her mother behind with Larya making plans for a grand entrance while Lady Arora sat apart from them with her brother, neither speaking although Dijana was sure they were communicating.

She fell asleep quickly, but she awoke from a disturbing dream and while she could not remember what it had been about, lingering feelings of anger and shame stayed with her. She could not get back to sleep, and thinking that some fresh air might help, she went to the door opening onto the terrace, but she paused when she heard voices.

"Did I wake you?" Dijana recognized Lady Arora's voice.

"I could not sleep." Taeron's mother was on the terrace and Dijana stepped back so that she would not disturb them. She was about to go back to her bed and try to sleep again, but she remembered Chaela's stories of spying at her father's palace, so she stopped just inside her chamber so that she could listen.

"You are not worried about Taeron, are you?"

"No, Arora, I am worried about you."

The emperor's wife sighed wearily. "You do not need to worry about me, Larya."

"I have been distressed for you since I learned that house Caron had put forward their female. I knew they Trey would wish for my son to take her as his mate, and I have been hard-pressed not to tell your mate what he should know, what you have been keeping from him."

"I thank you for not betraying my trust in you."

"Soon enough you will not have to worry about my keeping your secret. You don't think a bastard like Renaeld can keep his mouth shut, do you?"

"He has done so for many years," said Lady Arora. "If he wants to live, he will continue."

"You cannot trust a man like him, Arora. Sooner or later he was bound to make his move. I am surprised he has waited so long and I am disgusted that he is trying to use my son in his bid for power."

"I will not allow that, Larya."

They fell silent and then Dijana heard Lord Apolo's voice. "I awoke to find you gone, Larya."

"I hope that did not inconvenience you," she remarked wryly, and then she gasped. "My lord! Not in front of your sister."

Arora laughed. "My brother has not changed at all."

"I am completely devoted to my females. Why don't you warm the bed, Larya while I speak to my sister."

"You are not ordering me to do so, are you?"

"Larya, my beloved, I would not dare to presume such a thing. I am only suggesting, and I will make it well worth your effort."

"You did earlier, my lord, but I am not averse to experiencing your exertions again."

Dijana caught herself smiling at their intimate banter. She had been afraid of Taeron's mother, but she was less intimidating than her own mother.

"You and Larya are sharing secrets," she heard Apolo say.

"She is dear to me."

"You have never kept anything from me, Arora. But now I sense that you are hiding something from me." He sounded hurt.

"Why don't you read Larya's mind to find out what it is?" Lady Arora responded resentfully.

"I would never violate her trust by doing such a thing. Will you tell me, beloved sister?"

"Some secrets are best kept between females," she said. "Go back to bed with Larya. You have given her high expectations."

The Guerani lord sighed deeply. "I love you, sister, and I would help you if you but give me a chance."

When she did not respond, Dijana heard his footsteps as he left the terrace, and she moved to return to her bed until she heard Lady Arora speak again.

"I know you are there, Dijana, so you may as well give me some company since I sense that you cannot sleep."

Feeling guilty for having spied on her, Dijana felt her cheeks heat as she stepped out onto the terrace that was bathed by the eerie light from the two moons. Lady Arora was wearing a pale dressing robe that stood out in the darkness, so Dijana could easily see her sitting on the low wall at the edge of the terrace.

"I am sorry, gracious lady," she started to say, but the older woman waved her quiet.

"I am Chaela's mother. She is deluding herself if she ever thought I did not know when she was spying on me."

Despite her embarrassment, Dijana laughed. "Then she is deluding herself, my lady."

"Chaela's antics have always entertained me! I am overjoyed that she has been granted her powers by the ancestors, and yet saddened by how it came about. Chaela has matured beyond her years after losing Kaerwen. I wanted to thank you for helping her through that difficult time."

Dijana could not help but feel responsible, and she was about to say so, but the Guerani woman reached out to touch her and the feelings of guilt eased away.

"You are not to blame for your brother's actions, nor those of your stepfather. They were ambitious monsters that you could not fight. If Chaela could have imagined how evil their hearts were, she would not have challenged them." Arora sighed and released her hands. "You are very dear to her, Dijana, and I have already sensed how much Taeron loves you."

"My lady, would it not just be easier for everyone if I returned to Teralon?" Dijana thought the emperor's wife might listen to reason when the other women were not present.

"Easier for everyone? Would it be easier for you, Dijana, to bear Taeron's child alone? Would it be easier for you to say goodbye to your child so that she can be with her father? Will it be easier for your child to be parted from her mother? I can tell you after experiencing Taeron's past, that your innocent child will feel the pain of separation from you and from her father."

"I do not want to be the cause of war between the emperor and house Caron," Dijana argued.

"You would not cause the war, Dijana. This fight has been long in coming, but it was going to happen whether you came to Calabria or not." Her voice was hard and Dijana was surprised by the vehemence of her statement. "I bear no ill will towards Keilana, but I will not stand by and watch her force Taeron into a marriage that he does not want."

"What if Taeron chooses peace?" asked Dijana. Her heart would break if he rejected her, but Dijana understood that as crown prince, he had to consider the needs of Calabria, not just his own.

Lady Arora blew out her breath in exasperation. "Are you going to falter now, Dijana, after all you have risked in coming here." Standing, she went to put her hands on Dijana's shoulders and leaned down to look into her eyes. "You and I will be brave together, Dijana. I have no desire for this confrontation either, but the alternative is abhorrent. I will not sacrifice the happiness that you and Taeron can have to maintain a peace that will surely shatter anyway."

Dijana straightened and raised her chin. "Then I am willing to do whatever you ask, gracious lady."


	67. Chapter 67 Meeting with house Caron

**Chapter 67**

"Duo! By the gods! Where are you?"

As his father lowered his sword, Taeron did as well and he caught his father's frown as the emperor leaned over the balcony ringing the practice yard. It was early enough in the day, just shortly after first sunrise, that they would not be disturbed by the lazy imperial coutiers who came for the entertainment of watching warriors at practice long after second sunrise. This was the only time Taeron could find privacy with his father, and when they crossed swords, they spoke out of hearing of those imperials and also Stryfe who rarely left his bed before second sunrise.

"As you can see, Trey, I am here." With a regretful shake of his head, Duo sheathed his sword as did Taeron and he put a hand on his shoulder. "I think I am going to catch hell now."

"I heard that," snapped the emperor irritably. "I have just received from a messenger – a messenger! - a note that has passed through countless hands that the Teralonian forces landed at Edgeland Fortress three days ago with Neria and her consort. Three days ago!"

"You have said often enough lately that Teralon is beneath your notice, so I did not think you wanted to be disturbed by any news of them. Larya and Apolo have been entertaining them at the fortress."

Taeron did not dare look at is father, but his heart began to beat faster. Did this mean that Dijana had come to Calabria? Is that why the emperor was furious? Throughout the last few weeks, Trey reminded him frequently of his disappoval of Dijana. A woman like her could not be trusted. Even if she did accept him, which he was not so sure she would after what she had done to him on Teralon, Trey reminded Taeron repeatedly that she had only to run back to her home planet the moment her feelings were hurt. Did he need to remind Taeron how often that would happen at the imperial court?

But, gods, he wanted to be with Dijana!

His father was speaking. "Don't worry, Trey. Princess Dijana did not accompany them." Duo gave Taeron an apologetic look before turning back to the emperor who hardly seemed mollified.

"You would not lie to me, would you Duo?"

Taeron expected his father to take offense to the question, but to his surprise Lord Duo laughed. "I would not lie to you, Trey. The princess did not accompany her parents."

"Good," said Trey. "I don't need that complication. You and your son will join me and house Caron after second sunrise. We are done discussing this gods' damned business and I want it over." Without another word, he turned and moved away.

When he was gone, Duo shook his head. "I wish Arora would return from Edgeland before second sunrise, but she will not be here until the banquet this evening."

"Does it matter?" Taeron's heart was aching again. Dijana's parents had come to Calabria, but she had not come with them. Why would she? She did not want to see him and could easily stay away while he felt lost without her.

"Dijana could have come," he muttered resentfully. "By the time she does, it will be too late. I will be bonded to a woman I do not want."

His father grunted. "And you will last only long enough to sire a male before house Caron will storm the palace to dispose of you."

Taeron frowned at him. "Why has Lady Arora never told the emperor what house Caron did? He believes as everyone else, that they barely made it past the front doors of the palace, so it was easy for him to take Rendael's oath and forgive them."

"She has never told him for the same reason that you are being prodded into taking their female into your house. Caron was Zeno's ally and Dax's friend, and he might have accepted Trey, but he refused to believe what he claimed were lies about Dax. His wastrel sons were friends of Prince Dilan and they convinced him that Arora had bewitched them all with her Guerani powers. So Caron made the agreement with Meridon, an agreement that Meridon has since regretted because he realized that he was used by that house. Even I do not know exactly what happened in the palace that night when I arrived barely in time to save her life." Duo shook his head and visibly shuddered. "If I had been only a moment later..." He swallowed and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Arora has no love for house Caron, has tolerated them only for Trey's sake. When Trey told her that he intended for you to marry Keilana, that he refused to consider any other female, she left for Edgeland Fortress."

"He has been very irritable since she left." Taeron sighed. "They argue more than I remember from my childhood."

"Because Trey is a stubborn fool." Duo chuckled. "I know when to shut my mouth even if Trynity is wrong."

"Lady Trynity is never wrong," Taeron told him and his father threw back his head in laughter.

"By the gods, no female is ever wrong, Taeron. They have all taught you that lesson well."

Taeron thought that the females he had known all his life were usually very good at thinking through problems and that was a reason he should have been considered a good mate for Dijana. He respected the counsel of females and saw nothing amiss in Neria's rule. She had certainly proven herself as ruthless as any male.

"How can I avoid this match with Keilana," he asked his father. If there was ever a time that he needed Lord Duo's help, it was now.

The other man put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, my son. I know just the right buttons to push and levers to pull to drag this out as long as I can."

"You will not betray Lady Arora's confidence, will you?" Taeron asked anxiously. She would never forgive Duo if he told Trey about the night of Amyr's birth. Nobody who heard her story would shame Arora with the retelling, not when Taeron feared there were details she could not repeat, would never repeat.

"I don't need to air the emperor's dirty linen. I have other things in my bag of tricks. Your mother should arrive by then, and for once, I think we can work together." The phrases his father used were strange enough to Taeron, but hearing him plan to work with Larya was even stranger.

Upon returning to his room, he found Amyr still sleeping, so he bathed and dressed before waking him. If Amyr could reach Quynn in his dreams, he did not tell Taeron, but learning that Staefyn was bonded to another female seemed to calm him. That did not mean that Amyr did not try to contact her when he was with Shamara and Chaela. Taeron knew those females well enough to not trust them, especially after their mother had left them unsupervised. He suspected they had tried to break through Staefyn's wards, but the three were not strong enough. Taeron knew how powerful Staefyn was and they would need Arora and Apolo if they hoped to weaken him.

When Amyr awoke, Taeron told him that they would be meeting with house Caron soon and that he should ready himself. Yori would be with Jeshed, both learning to make sense of the written symbols with a master teacher now that Stryfe was too busy for them. Taeron did not envy them their lessons because they had bored him to tears. What reason did he have to read when he had a scribe? Gods, was he thinking like Amyr already?

Hearing his directive, Amyr looked as though he wanted to speak his mind about the impending match, but Taeron shook his head to keep him from voicing his opinion, so Amyr went to the bathing chamber. Taeron did not need Amyr to come up with some ridiculous plan to avoid the marriage, especially when he did not know what ridiculous plan his father had already put into motion.

While Taeron was waiting for him, he calmed his nerves by sliding an oiled cloth over the blade of the sword his father had given him when Stryfe strode into the room, scrolls tucked under his arm.

"Your parents are together in one room," he told Taeron, and by the merry light in his eyes, Taeron guessed that it was not going well.

"Has Lady Arora returned?" She was one of his mothers as much as Lady Trynity and Larya.

"She did not accompany them." Stryfe told him with a laugh. "The emperor is furious by her delay and when he complained about her absence, my mother sassed him with some choice words about his overbearing, ape-man behavior, so they were arguing when I left. I think Trey is suspicious that his devious wife is conspiring with the winged royalty of Teralon."

"She will only infuriate him more if she is." said Taeron, frowning. "And I do not think an angry emperor will improve my odds of avoiding this marriage."

"Probably not," agreed Stryfe. "I have spent the last three days hearing over and over again how important this marriage is to the empire. Most of the imperials that went to Teralon and Varoonya with you were from house Caron."

"They are admirable warriors," said Taeron.

Trey's reliance on the southern lord's men had put him in this position and now he had little choice but to appease house Caron. If the emperor lost the their support, it would weaken his army, and if house Caron challenged Trey, the emperor would have to call on every last warrior pledged to his own house to hold him back. The war would be long and blood and the outcome was not assured for either side.

Because of his reluctance to want to fight the honorable men he had commanded because they had already shared so much together, Taeron knew he would have to take Keilana as his bonded wife. But he could not share with any female what he shared with Dijana in his heart. Would his mind become twisted like Staefyn's as he bound himself to a female he did not love?

Amyr strode out of the bathing chamber wearing one of his tunics and Taeron was glad of the distraction from unpleasant thoughts of the future. "My mother is with your father and she will not be pleased to see you wearing that."

"Since you disdained wearing it although it had been set in the chamber for you, I decided not to let it go to waste. I am marginally safe from her wrath in the receiving hall. Has the Teralonian delegation arrived at court?" Amyr glanced at Stryfe for the answer.

"Not yet," Stryfe told them. "Apolo reported that they are arranging for the training of the winged warriors at Edgeland and Prince Consort Roehan wishes to oversee the transition."

"Are the emperor and myself the only two who did not know of their arrival?" asked Taeron with annoyance.

Amyr raised a brow. "What would you have done had you known?"

Taeron would have raced to the fortress faster than his mother had if only to hear news of Dijana. "I am surprised that Neria did not accompany my mother to the palace," remarked Taeron without responding to Amyr. He would rather not deal with the two women at the same time, especially not now when his heart felt like a lifeless lump in his chest.

"They have had the last three days to catch up," said Amyr with a chuckle. "I think I know what the subject of their conversation was."

"My complete humiliation?"

Stryfe and Amyr were still laughing about his answer when they entered the hall. Unfortunately or by design, they soon came upon the males of house Caron accompanying Keilana. For a moment they all fell silent and Taeron suppressed a wince when he looked at the beautiful female. Her long dark lashes were demurely downcast as she stood meekly beside her father. Her skin was pale as marble and he wondered if she would lay like a statue in their bed. He would probably prefer that.

Rendael took his daughter's hand to offer her to him. "My lord prince, would you honor my daughter with an escort?"

Taeron took her hand, but he would be gods' damned if he raised the limp, pale fingers to his lips in the acceptable courtly greeting. Ignoring the annoyance and unease the slight caused, he put her hand on his arm. "I would be most pleased to escort Lady Keilana."

His words seemed to mollify them, and Rendael swept the men accompanying him with a contemptuous gaze before saying, "Walk with us and let your lord have some privacy."

"My brother is not, technically my lord," Taeron heard Stryfe tell the older man as they walked away. "And he is not Prince Amyr's lord either."

Taeron did not hear what Rendael growled in response, but Stryfe fell silent. Privacy was the last thing Taeron wanted with Keilana when in the past three weeks he had enough private encounters with her to last a lifetime. Keilana rarely spoke and then only to recite her accomplishments in her studies and her knowledge in running the household of her father's southern palace, but when he asked about her father's lands, she either had nothing to say on the matter or she was instructed to be evasive. Unlike other females, she did not beg to hear about his campaigns, nor did she lower herself to watch him at sword practice where he more often than not instructed others. She reminded Taeron of a pretty doll that Chaela and Shamara had once fought over and that Amyr had taken to crush under his heel when their shouting had annoyed him. Keilana appeared fragile like that doll, not strong and able to survive what Dijana had during the Varoonyan occupation.

He waited for the males accompanying them to move ahead before he started to walk. He recognized the exotic scent she wore, and while it was not unpleasant, he had grown tired of the cloying aroma. Dijana did not wear scents, but he remembered clearly the smell of her skin, would remember it always even with Keilana's perfume overpowering his senses.

"My father tells me that Lady Arora has planned the ceremony for our oath," Keilana remarked softly.

He wished she would not speak because he wanted to think about Dijana without interruption. Dijana's voice was throaty and remembering how she sounded when she made her noises of pleasure made him feel uncomfortable now.

"The celebration will be grand," continued Keilana, oblivious to his stray thoughts.

If she did not care if he answered her or not, he would think about how soft Dijana's hair was in his hands, how it tickled his flesh when it fell over her shoulders as she pressed kisses to his body.

"My father will bring many warriors to the ceremony," said the woman at his side.

Taeron looked down at her bowed, dark head. "Are you threatening me, female?" He was not going to be polite to her, not when she chose to speak of war.

Now she raised her head and he saw what she had hidden from him in the past weeks. There was deliberate calculation in her icy blue gaze. "I would not presume to threaten the crown prince. I am warning you. Once our houses have settled on an agreement, you will not back out as you did on Teralon."

"I did not back out of any agreement on Teralon," Taeron told her. "And I will remind you that no signatures have been affixed to any documents yet."

She curled her lip. "My father assures me that the emperor has been backed into a corner. They have thoroughly discussed the terms of our marriage."

"You wish this marriage even though I love another?" He doubted the appeal to her vanity would work, but he maliciously hoped she was hurt.

Keilana removed her hand from his arm. "I no longer need to pretend, my lord prince. You may have won yourself a throne with the strength of your sword, and because my house wants that throne, I will give myself to you, but I will not enjoy the touch of a bastard on me."

Her words cut even though he had heard them all his life, but she was not finished driving the blade into his heart.

"When we have bonded, you will cease to think of that Teralonian harlot. If she wanted you, she would not have sent you away. I give her credit for proving herself a good judge of character. Your mother is a whore and you are a bastard, something you cannot change no matter what you do or where you go." She raked him with her contemptuous gaze. "If I must suffer your touch, I will, but I will like it little."

For the rest of the walk to the emperor's receiving room, he did not force her to suffer his touch and she did not put her hand back on his arm even when they came within sight of her family. Sensing his disquiet, Amyr's brows raised and Stryfe viewed them with interest as well, so Taeron guessed he would have to tell his brother about his conversation. He wondered if he should lie for the official account or be brutally honest about what he had discovered about the female he must wed.

The guards opened the door, giving deferential nods to Rendael as well as Taeron, so he knew they were warriors provided by house Caron to serve the emperor. Taeron needed to find out from Trey how many of the guards in the imperial household were from house Caron, and while Taeron knew the men, had trained with many and led many others into battle, he could not be certain of their loyalty.

"Taeron!" Taeron noticed Keilana's grimace of disgust when his mother hurried to hug him. "You look well!"

"I saw you four days ago," he reminded her wryly. But he was happy to feel her arms around him.

She smiled as she looked into his eyes and he had the uncomfortable feeling that she was keeping a secret from him. By the gods, he could not imagine what she had discussed with Dijana's mother.

"You have been entertaining Queen Neria and her consort," he remarked, not giving a gods' damn if Keilana heard him inquiring after Dijana. "Did they mention their daughter?"

His mother laughed and lightly patted his cheek. "Now is not the time to speak of Teralon. I will only say that Neria and I had a pleasant visit. Her consort is brutish and overbearing, but quite handsome. Have you seen his wings? They are majestic!"

"I have had the misfortune of seeing them," Taeron told her. "How did you have the opportunity to see them?" He had only seen Roehan unfurl his wings when he was agitated.

Larya did not answer his question, and since Taeron knew that it did not take much to set off Roehan's temper, he guessed that Neria caused the appearance of the wings. "Come along. There is much to discuss."

Taeron doubted there was much to discuss because Trey and Rendael had spent days discussing the terms of his surrender to Keilana.

When she led him to where Trey stood with Lord Duo and his wife, Lady Trynity came to kiss Taeron's cheek and he noted that house Caron did not seem to care for the healer either. Taeron knew that once those males wrested control of Calabria from Trey, they would return to the old ways. The slave markets would reopen and females would no longer be safe.

"The scribe has drawn up an agreement that I think we will all consider acceptable," began Trey, but Larya cut him off.

"I want to hear it."

Trey's brows drew together as he looked at her. "I have already discussed this with Duo."

Taeron's father scratched his head. "I would like to hear the scribe read it as well since I have forgotten some of the details."

The emperor looked at him with annoyance. "You actively participated in drawing up the document."

Larya huffed with exasperation. "I don't care what you discussed with that oaf," she nodded in Lord Duo's direction. "Taeron is my son and I want to hear exactly what you posturing males have decided." She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Trey. "Do you deny my right?"

"I have taken him into my house," stated Trey with a dismissive wave of his hand. Taeron thought that move was rather brave in the face of Lady Larya, but then the emperor did not look her in the eye when he did it.

Beyond glaring at him, Larya did not push him any further, and yet Taeron was more afraid for the emperor than if she had pulled a sword. Now she turned slowly and speared Rendael with a look that made him start. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me what you males have agreed to do with my son."

Whatever secrets she had about Rendael of house Caron were damning enough for him to nod to Stryfe who sighed and slowly unrolled the scroll to lay out upon the table provided for signing the document. He began to read from the beginning of the scroll which was a recitation of both his antecedents and Keilana's. While the list of Keilana's family was long and impressive, neither Taeron's mother nor father knew who their own parents were and Taeron could see that the males of house Caron were disgusted by how low into the mire they had to go to buy themselves a throne.

Duo interupted his son after he stated his name to inform Stryfe that he had forgotten to add his middle name to the document. Trey argued that Calabrians were known by one name and their house, and then Duo reminded him that he had already accepted his last name so why not add his middle name. Stryfe made a notation on the parchment and apologized that they would not be able to sign the document until later that evening, and when he asked for his father's middle name, Lord Duo had to think for a few moments.

The emperor suggested "Dick" under his breath and Stryfe snorted, then coughed to cover what Taeron suspected was laughter. Biting his bottom lip to keep from laughing himself at what Taeron assumed was a human joke, Duo finally said "James" at the same time his wife said "Robert" after which they argued which name was correct. As Taeron suspected, Trynity was right – or perhaps his father gave in.

Once everyone was satisfied by the preamble declaration of houses, Stryfe began to list Taeron's achievements and Taeron could see that Keilana was bored in hearing what he had accomplished. After finishing with the tale, Duo interrupted again with details from Taeron's visit to Mars Colony which Trey told Stryfe not to include and his decree was followed by an argument between the two men until Duo finally relented.

Rendael and his men could not interrupt when the document was so important to them, so they could only stand with gritted teeth as Taeron's father picked at most of the text and Taeron could see that Stryfe was becoming flustered by his father's censure. Although his mother stood by placidly listening and watching, Taeron suspected she was colluding with Lord Duo to delay the marriage and he was overjoyed to see that they could work together for him.

The reading of the document took the better part of the day and by the time Stryfe had finished reciting the list of goods and services that would be transferred to the emperor's crown prince, Trey was infuriated that his imperial guard questioned every detail. His temper was not eased at all by the occasional smirk he caught on Lady Trynity's lips, but he did not speak to her, so Taeron guessed their previous argument might have gone just shy of her returning to the moon and withholding the herbal remedies that made his life comfortable.

"Are you satisfied?" Trey finally asked Duo when Stryfe had come to the end of a document that was marked up with changes.

"I may need more time to consider," he said.

"You will receive no more time to consider. I took Taeron into my house and I have given you rights you do not deserve." Trey's patience had run its limit.

"That is a harsh thing to say, Trey," pouted Duo. Taeron knew his father was not bothered at all by Trey usurping his rights when Trey had raised him among his own children. Nothing had changed in Taeron's relationship with Lord Duo as a result because Taeron would have spent most of his time on the surface with Amyr anyway.

"If all the details have been decided upon," spoke up Rendael, "we can sign the agreement tonight during the banquet shortly before my daughter and the lord prince speak their oaths. On the morrow they can share the bonding cup in the plaza for the people to witness."

Taeron's heart was pounding in anxiety and he felt more fear than he had in facing any enemy. His father was not speaking to put a stop to this marriage and his mother remained silent! They had exhausted all their resources and Taeron was still going to have to marry Keilana.

Duo glanced at him, then turned to look at his wife.

Taeron held his breath.

Lady Trynity stepped forward and he thought he would become dizzy waiting for her to speak, but she was waiting with mocking deference to be acknowledged by the emperor.

"Now what?" demanded Trey with annoyance.

"I cannot allow Taeron to take the bonding cup with Keilana of house Caron."

"What?!" demanded the males of house Caron together. They were looking at each other as if they had been attacked in the flank and could not recover. Taeron gulped in a breath of relief and he thought he saw his mother smile slightly.

Rendael finally stepped forward, dragging his daughter with his hand on her elbow. "How dare you try to stop this sacred tradition!? My daughter has a right to have a bonded mate!"

Trey glared at Trynity. "We have spoken of this before, woman. You will not interfere in the bonding tradition."

She calmly folded her arms over her chest. "I have thoroughly tested Prince Taeron's blood upon his return from Teralon after his treatment by the sorceress on the frontier world. The outward symptoms of his bonding to Princess Dijana seem to have been erased, but I may need more time to test if his blood still has antibodies that will attack if another female's blood is introduced into his hemoglobin."

Taeron had no idea what she was talking about.

Neither did Rendael. "I do not understand your words!"

She rolled her eyes. "Taking Keilana's blood from the bonding cup might kill him."

"It might not," said Keilana with a quiet, sweet voice that made sympathetic eyes turn to her while Taeron was disgusted by the wraith-like female. "The gods will decide."

"Very well," said Trynity with a shrug. "And when he writhes in a painful death only moments later, you will be a widow before you are even a wife. We shall discover what the gods have decided."

Keilana pursed her lips and Taeron knew that she was seething with fury.

Lady Trynity smiled with as much false sweetness as Keilana had shown only a few moments ago. "I can perform some tests if you but offer your blood. I can mix it with the lord prince's blood and see if there is a reaction. If not, then you may bond with the gods' blessing."

Taeron wanted to tell Trynity he preferred writhing in his death throes at Keilana's feet, but there was a chance that he would be able to bond with her so he remained silent.

"How do we know you can be trusted?" Rendael asked the beautiful healer.

Lord Duo growled with fury and both Trey and Taeron had to seize him to keep him from drawing his sword. "I would enjoy nothing better than to treat you to the edge of my blade, Rendael of house Caron, the same edge that drank the blood of your father."

Rendael started to draw his own sword, but his sons stopped him as well. "One day, Duo of house Maxwell, I will stand over your lifeless body."

"Are you males done making threats?" asked Larya calmly. She looked at Keilana. "I must insist that you submit to Lady Trynity's tests. I do not want my son to die needlessly. Of course, if you do not insist on bonding …"

Keilana looked at her father who shook his head and then she went to Lady Trynity. "I will do what I must to prove that the gods mean for me to be Prince Taeron's mate."

No one was surprised that the healer carried the necessary supplies to draw blood in a satchel that she carried everywhere with her. When she stuck the long needle into Keilana's arm, Taeron wondered if it was his imagination that she was not nearly as gentle as she usually was when drawing blood. Keilana winced and Taeron was surprised that seemed even paler as she watched her blood seep into the glass tube.

When she finished, Trynity pulled out the needle and pressed a small white cloth square to the spot that soon stopped bleeding. She told them all that she would have the results on the morrow. Without any further discussion, house Caron retreated, probably to investigate an alternate strategy if the healer proved him unable to bond with Keilana.

After Taeron and Trey released Duo, he straightened his shoulders and fixed Trey with a glare that was not feigned. "I will avenge that insult."

Trynity tossed the tube of blood in her satchel. "That went well."

"That went well?" demanded Trey furiously. "Do you want to spend your days treating maimed and dying warriors?" He looked at Taeron. "I know you had nothing to do with this." His gaze moved to Larya. "And what of you? Do you realize how powerful this marriage will make your son? Why would you try to destroy the alliance with house Caron?"

"Because the males are swine," she stated matter of factly. "Xuxa handed me over to that fat old bastard Caron when I was but twelve, and after he finished with me, he gave me to his vile sons as if I were a scrap thrown to the dogs. Raemon beat me nigh senseless before using me, and when it was Rendael's turn, he cried like a baby and wet himself instead."

"By the gods, mother!" Taeron was heartsick to hear her story.

"Rendael was always a timid hill weasel around his brother," she told them. "And since his brother's death, the hill weasel has grown sharp teeth and claws."

Trey stared at her incredulously. "Why did you never say anything to me?"

"When did you ever care?" she asked him. "Xuxa blamed me for the beating Caron had given me because she thought I had deserved it, so she beat me again when Caron told her that I did not pleasure his younger son. She forced me to go back to him on my knees. Did you think I was always a pampered whore, prancing about half-naked to seduce the crown prince?"

Taeron was surprised that her words seemed to trouble Trey, but after a moment he turned back around to look at Duo. "What did you mean about your sword drinking Caron's blood? Wasn't he killed by the palace imperials?"

Duo did not respond.

Trey waited for him to speak, and when it became clear he would not, Trey turned around to look at Amyr who had wisely chosen to remain in the shadows throughout the day, dozing off an on. Now he straightened as his father spoke to him. "Do you know what he was speaking of?"

"I was not even born yet," Amyr reminded him with a nervous laugh.

Taeron hoped the emperor did not ask him. He was not as skilled in telling half-truths as the rest of them were.

"Your wife led the palace guard," Larya reminded him before Trey could ask him what he knew. "You shall have to save your questions for her. I, for one, do not care whose blade drank his blood. I would have enjoying bathing in it."

Trey ran a nervous hand through his hair. "By the gods, I need Arora! This business is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. And why did you leave Apolo at the fortress?"

"For the same reason that Arora stayed behind. Queen Neria and her consort are guests who have come a long way to deliver warriors for training. You should be thankful that Arora knows her duty while you play your matchmaking games." Under her censure, his shoulders slumped and he lowered his head, so Larya went to Trey and put her hands on his shoulders by his neck. "You are very tense and need some rest."

She was massaging his shoulders and Taeron was surprised that Trey reacted with pleasure of her touch. "I could not sleep at all last night," he admitted.

"Remember when I would do this for Arora when she was heavy with child and then you would demand that I do the same for you?"

Trey laughed softly as he took her hands and raised them to his lips. "You know just the right spots, Larya."

Taeron was surprised that the emperor did not flinch away from her, had openly touched his lips to her without the usual reaction of a bonded mate to another female, and he realized then that the emperor had never shown an adverse reaction to Larya. He had never heard of bonded males able to maintain a friendship with a female other than their mates.

"Interesting," commented Trynity as she looked at the door they had passed through. She must have been considering what Taeron had. "I wonder if non-breeding females are viewed as non-threatening to bonded males."

"I cannot imagine any female more threatening than Larya, breeding or not," remarked Duo.

"You must not have met Queen Neria," remarked Amyr with a shudder.

"At least I have never seen Larya kill anyone," added Stryfe. "I will never forget how she dropped her own son out of the sky without even batting a lash."

Irritated that they should bring up Teralon, Taeron looked at Trynity. "Will you need some of my blood?" he asked although he would rather she not poke his arm with her needle.

She looked back at him. "Oh, no, I don't need to. You have nothing to worry about. Whatever that sorceress did to you completely cleansed your blood of any residual effect of your bond with Dijana."

Taeron frowned at her. "Did you lie to the emperor?"

"Lie?" She raised her brow.

Lord Duo growled. "Are you accusing my mate of lying?"

"Taeron, my mother never said there was anything wrong with your blood," pointed out Stryfe. "She just said she was going to do some testing." The scribe's recollection was never wrong. How would Trey feel to know about all the misinformation that he was given? Taeron doubted he would be pleased.

"I suppose I should do some testing then," commented Trynity with a sigh, "Or I will be guilty of lying. Duo, do you think there are any high-powered microscopes or genetic analyzers to be had in the palace?"

"Babe, I really doubt it." Lord Duo went to his wife and slipped his arm around her waist. "And I don't really care."

Taeron looked away when he nuzzled her neck. His father wasn't bonded, but he acted as if he were.

Stryfe was grinning at the affectionate display his parents were putting on. "Hey, mom, I have a magnifying glass in my office. Will that help?"

Duo raised his head. "I'm a dolt when it comes to biology, but even I know that won't help."

"I did not say how thoroughly I will study the blood," she reminded him. "I can see a few things with a magnifying glass."

"Like the color?" asked Stryfe with a chuckle.

"I would be curious if Keilana has red blood," commented Amyr.

"I am sure she supplied only ice water," muttered Taeron.

Duo laughed and pulled Trynity up in his arms. "Stryfe, bring that thing around in a few hours."

"Hours?" Stryfe scratched his head and Amyr chuckled as Taeron's father walked out carrying his wife.

"When you have a mate, you may find you want to spend hours with her instead of the few minutes you spend on your females," Amyr told him. He glanced at Taeron as if waiting for confirmation, but Taeron did not want to be reminded of the hours he spent with Dijana, not when he was going to end up lying with a female as cold as a mountain river snake.

"What am I going to do?" he asked aloud.

"You could try appealing to the gods," suggested Amyr with a smile. "They have been known to listen to you."

"They haven't yet," grumbled Taeron.

"Try being a little more specific," said Stryfe. "For example, 'O mighty gods, please save me tonight from making a terrible mistake.'"

"Seems a little general," remarked Amyr. "The terrible mistake might be putting on a sweaty old tunic to wear at his oath giving banquet."

"Nothing could top the mistake you made at your banquet," argued Stryfe.

Taeron sighed with exasperation, and he walked to the window where the second sun was already in descent and he raised his hands as he closed his eyes. "Gods, please send Dijana to me tonight, before I shame myself with an oath I do not wish to make. I will love and honor her all the days of my life if you just give me a chance."

He felt embarrassed by what he had said and when his brothers did not tease him he turned to see that they were staring at him in wonder. "What is the matter with you?"

"Gods' blessed," said Stryfe.

Amyr smiled at Taeron. "I don't think the gods have ever heard a more worthy plea. I should not be surprised if they answered you."

Taeron turned away from them to look at the sky and the few stars he could see. Dijana was too far away and this time the gods would be unable to heed his cry for help.


	68. Chapter 68 Taeron loses his freedom

**Chapter 68**

After leaving the emperor's private reception chamber, Taeron parted ways with Stryfe and Amyr, the former hurrying away with his scrolls grumbling about all the work his father had made for him and the latter planning to visit with his son. Taeron returned to his own room where he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling in abject misery, concentrating on the angles dying rays of the sun made to keep from thinking of his future, and when they had disappeared and he was in the dark, he was forced to acknowledge what he could not change. By this time the following evening, he would be lying here with Keilana, doing with her what his body forced him to do while his heart yearned for Dijana. Would his bond destroy his love for her? Would he love Keilana? Had Staefyn grown to love Xuxa? The thought churned his stomach and he sought a pot to empty what little he had put in it that day.

He was just raising his head when his mother walked in with garments over her arm. Seeing what he had done, she set them aside and hurried to draw him into her embrace. "I am sorry this is causing you pain," she murmured as she brought his head down to her shoulder. "If there was any other way, we would have chosen it."

"Is there any better way to be sentenced to die a long and painful death?" he asked. He breathed in the comforting scent of his mother, and remembering what she had said and how the males of house Caron had looked at her, Taeron wondered how long it would be before they stripped everything away that she had earned with hard work and determination, two qualities that were completely foreign to the males of house Caron. Their brusque treatment of Keilana had not escaped his notice, so Taeron knew it would not be long before they destroyed the progress Trey had made during his reign.

Larya continued to hold him, combing her fingers through his long hair. "You have always been so devout in your belief of the gods. Do you not trust them this time to commute your sentence?"

Taeron wanted so badly to believe in the gods, but very soon he would give his oath to Keilana and he would not be able to back out of it. "I am trying, mother." And failing, but she did not need to know how wretched he felt.

She squeezed him, kissed the top of his head and then moved him back. "You are not a coward, Taeron."

"This is not a battle I can win," he told her.

"You enter into marriage, my son, not a battle." She went to the clothing she had brought in. "I made this for you, and because I don't trust that oaf, Amyr, I made one for him that will fit him better than the tunics I make for you."

She was holding the two garments in either hand and Taeron could see that she must have put hours of work into the stitching on the ornate dark purple and gold tunic she had made for him. Amyr's was gold with purple stitching, a perfect complement although less ostentatious. Taeron thought of Amyr's comment about wearing a sweaty old tunic to the banquet and he nearly laughed aloud at his mother's probable reaction.

Before Taeron reached her, Amyr walked in followed by Apolo, and Amyr snatched the darker tunic before Larya could stop him. "My favorite color, Lady Larya!" He kissed the top of her head. "I thank you."

"Give that to Taeron, you fool!" Larya looked in exasperation at her husband for help, but Amyr laughed and tossed the clothing to Taeron who let it hit him in the middle of the chest before sagging to the floor.

"Taeron! It will be crumpled and you will look as if you rolled out of bed after wearing it to sleep." She shoved Amyr's clothing at him and went to retrieve the garments, and as she did, Taeron crossed to greet Apolo who grasped his forearm before pulling him into a hug.

"My sister has arranged this grand evening for you," Apolo told him. "She will not be pleased if you are disheveled."

"Lady Arora has returned to the palace?" asked Taeron anxiously. Was there time to speak to her, to ask her to intercede on his behalf?

Apolo shook his head. "She directed the palace staff from Edgeland Fortress these last few days." He smiled and put his hands on Taeron's shoulders to look into his eyes. "Be at ease, Taeron. She has arranged a spectacle that you will never forget." He released him and looked over his shoulder at his mate. "I often wonder if Larya would have liked an oath ceremony as grand as the one my sister has planned for you."

Larya straightened and shook out the tunic and pants. "You do not need to wonder, Apolo. Exchanging our oaths in the light of second sunset beneath the Guerani hills is one of the happiest memories of my life."

They exchanged a loving glance from which Taeron had to look because he would never feel that way for Keilana. Amyr caught his attention and he nodded to the bathing chamber, so they left his mother and her husband to wash and change into the ceremonial garments. She had provided every item, each of the finest quality, but Taeron felt uncomfortable once he was dressed. When he reached for his sword, Amyr warned him that the emperor had forbidden weapons at the ceremony. Taeron did not trust any man or woman of house Caron, so he suspected that they would be carrying their weapons despite the emperor's edict, yet _he_ would not disobey Trey.

As he reluctantly turned away from his sword, Amyr winked at him. "I have a place in mind to put it so it will be at hand when things turn ugly."

"When things turn ugly?" Taeron raised a brow. "Do you think I will not go through with this? I broke my oath once before, but this time I will not."

"You may change your mind when you are looking into Keilana's ice cold eyes." Amyr grimaced. "Just in case you do change your mind, I will have your sword nearby."

"How do you think your father will feel about that?"

Amyr's response was a shrug of his shoulders which did not surprise Taeron since Amyr had never made pleasing his father a priority.

When he returned to his room, he found Lord Duo waiting with his wife. Trynity was discussing something with Apolo, but they stopped talking when he entered.

"Did you test my blood?" he asked Lady Trynity sardonically.

"We were just discussing your blood," Apolo told him. "Trynity tells me that you have unique healing properties."

"My brother has holy paladin blood," spoke up Jeshed who had come in with Stryfe.

"You took your blood from him," remarked Trynity before Taeron could voice his annoyance at their insistence that he had become some magical being. The only magical being in the room was Jeshed. "Yet you do not have the same properties in your blood."

"I was not chosen," said Jeshed.

Taeron rolled his eyes and his father chuckled.

"Well," said Duo. "The hangman is waiting."

If that meant there was a man waiting to hang Taeron, then he would gladly put his head in the noose rather than look Keilana in the eye and give her his oath to make her his mate.

Larya curled her arm around Taeron's. "Trynity, I do not know how you bear living with that man."

"He is a habit I cannot break," she said with a sigh.

"A good habit, I am sure," laughed Apolo.

"A bad habit," corrected Duo. "A very bad habit."

Taeron was not in the mood to laugh with the others, especially when his father took his other arm to lead him to the hall that had been filled with tables and benches, all elegantly decorated with cloths and festooned with flowers. Vines entwined with flowers and glowing crystals were stretched across the ceiling, and if Taeron weren't so miserable he might have been awed by the beauty of the reception hall. The tables were already crowded with men and women from the great houses of Calabria, and as they turned to watch him enter, Taeron felt uncomfortable under their scrutiny. Keilana had voiced what he knew they all thought about him, that no matter what he did or where he went, he was still a bastard. What was worse, he did not have his sword on which to rest his hand, to give him the confidence to face what he must.

The emperor's table was set at the head of a large open area before which Taeron would give his oath to Keilana. Two tables were set at either side, one for Lord Duo's family and the other for the members of house Caron. He had been told that the first part of the ceremony consisted of a formal greeting between the two houses joining.

Trey had been sitting at the table with his daughters, but seeing Taeron enter, he left to join his party with Shamara and Chaela following, their lovely dark heads together as they whispered something that made them smile.

"You have done a fine job, Larya," Trey said as he put his hands on Taeron's shoulders and looked at him from head to foot. "I despaired that Amyr would ever let you wear your own clothing."

Amyr moved around Taeron. "Look, papa, I am a grown boy! I have my own!"

Trey grunted with annoyance, but Taeron could see the amused light in his eyes, but that light faded when he looked at Apolo. "Where have you been? Did Larya not tell you that I wanted your counsel? And where is Arora? Will she be here? I have not heard from her in days! Why has she not responded to my calls to the fortress?"

"I would not want to be in your shoes," remarked Duo. "I don't think Trynity brought any more of that special medicine you need, so you are going to have a hell of a night if not next few days."

Trey glared at him. "I have heard enough of your voice today, Maxwell."

"That is too bad because I had a lot more to say."

Apolo cleared his throat, but Taeron could see that he was trying not to laugh. "Arora promised to be here."

"She may have been attacked on the way." Trey was clearly anxious about his wife's safety.

"I could take out a patrol to find her," suggested Taeron.

Trey glared at him. Taeron did not think he would agree anyway, but he did catch Shamara and Chaela's amused smiles.

Apolo reached out to touch his hand and Taeron saw the calm wash over the emperor. "Her way is clear to the city, Trey. We have increased patrols. Staefyn and his warlord have been quiet lately, so I think they are planning their offensive."

"We will be planning our own as soon as this business is settled," stated Trey. "As for Arora, she had better have a good reason for not being here." There was suddenly a commotion near the door. "If that is not her, at least house Caron has arrived." He glanced at Taeron. "Try not to look like a sword has been rammed through your belly."

"I think the sword was rammed through his heart," said Jeshed with a mournful sigh and Taeron gave him a grateful look. Jeshed well understood his feelings.

Trey turned to greet the members of house Caron, but he made a sound of disgust that drew Taeron's attention. He was surprised to see Queen Neria approaching wearing a brilliant, multicolored gown, her dark wings spread out behind her. The men and women of the court were only too well acquainted with her, but the large male walking behind her, his own gold-tipped ivory wings spread out in glorious splender made them burst into excited conversation. Taeron and his father were the only men in the room that could look Prince Consort Roehan in the eye and Taeron did not feel up to doing that at the moment because he might demand to know why they kept Dijana from him. He refused to believe that she had chosen of her own will not to accompany them to Calabria. Neria looked nothing like her daughter, but a glance at Roehan hurt Taeron when Dijana's beauty came from the winged warrior.

"By the gods, what are you doing here?" demanded Trey with ill-concealed displeasure.

"How very nice to see you again as well, my lord," purred Neria sarcastically. "In answer to your question, we were invited."

"Invited? Invited by who?"

` They did not answer but turned back to the wide double doors that led to the steps down to the plaza. The doors were open, letting moonlight flood in, and into that moonlight stepped a woman who they could not see at first, but when she stepped into the crystal lighted hall, a hush fell over the men and women of the court. Lady Arora came forward, her dark beauty never so evident in the pale gown that clung to her as she walked with purposeful steps to her husband. Taeron wondered if Trey had ever seen his wife as she was now, not the imperial guard that had spent many years at his side, protecting him, bearing his children, sharing his life, but as an alluring female that could make any unbonded male gape with desire.

Even the emperor's mouth was ajar. "Arora?"

She glanced at Larya and gave her a smile before looking at her husband, so Taeron guessed his mother was responsible for the change in Lady Arora. "I have invited the ruling house of Teralon to the banquet. You may be displeased by their actions of late, but Teralon is a functioning, vital part of your empire."

Trey stiffened at the political lecture, probably not expecting it to be delivered by a woman whose gown clung to every curve. Taeron was sure that he had never seen Lady Arora dressed in such a revealing garment although many women of the court wore them daily. He could see that even Shamara and Chaela were disconcerted by what she was wearing.

Finally Trey cleared his throat. "There is little to do about it now that it is done, but you should have consulted me on their inclusion at this ceremony."

Her dark brows arched. "Was I to consult you on all the guests?"

"You know what I mean!" Trey wiped his palms on his tunic and Taeron could see that a sweat had broken out over his forehead. The man might not make it through the ceremony, not with his mate flaunting what she had withheld from him for the last several days.

Ignoring his reaction, she directed his attention to the winged visitors. "You are well acquainted with Queen Neria, but you have yet to meet her husband, Prince Consort Roehan."

Trey tore his gaze from his wife to look up at the warrior standing behind Neria. For a moment he said nothing and Taeron hoped that he would not chastise Roehan publically for the broken treaty. He must have thought better of it. "I was informed that you arrived with a battalion of warriors," he said although his gaze drifted back to his own wife.

"My men have been training with your warriors at the fortress. They have learned much of ground warfare that may aid them in battle to know how best to cut down their grounded enemies."

His gruff words made Trey start and look back at Roehan. "In the service of the empire, of course."

Roehan's emerald gaze moved past Trey to meet Taeron's gaze "Of course."

Was that a threat? Taeron wondered how many more times he was going to be threatened before the day was over.

"It is unfortunate that our daughter could not join us," remarked Neria and she gave Taeron a sympathetic glance.

"Very unfortunate, indeed," huffed Trey. His opinion of Dijana's rejection was well known to Taeron, and while Trey had washed his hands of the female he had once insisted he marry, Taeron could not so easily forget her. "I have much to discuss with you in the manner in which my daughter was treated on your planet as well as my lord prince."

"Father!" Chaela reached out to pluck at his sleeve. "I have found peace. Can you not let it rest?"

"I should have liked that bastard brought to me in chains so that I could mete out my justice," snarled Trey, shaking off her hand. "I would have demanded the right to take my own vengeance on the bastard."

If Neria was going to comment about the vile son she had butchered, she did not have a chance because the members of house Caron appeared in the doorway.

Lord Rendael escorted his daughter, his wife having died when she was only a child, and Taeron noted that house Caron had no other females. Keilana had not spoken of her family although Taeron had tried to learn something of them during the stilted conversations that had served as his courtship. He knew that there were rumors circulating around court about Keilana's mother, but he had not paid them any heed. Now, he wished he had listened because he was tying his life to a female whose family inspired almost as much gossip as the emperor. They were flanked by Aevan and Caerl who wore smug smiles of satisfaction that made Taeron shift uneasily, wishing he had his sword at that moment. Once Keilana was his mate, Taeron was going to need Amyr to watch his back.

Rendael stopped short of the group already assembled. Dressed in an unadorned black tunic, his piercing dark gaze moved over Neria and her husband who seemed to be usurping their place. The meeting was awkward, and Keilana shot Taeron an accusing glare before Arora indicated a table nearby for the Teralonians to sit in a place of honor. She left with them for a moment and Taeron noticed Trey watching her, his mind far from this banquet hall, but when Taeron turned his attention back to his future wife's family, he saw that Rendael was watching Arora, a smile curving his lips that made Taeron's blood turn ice cold.

When she returned, Rendael was the first to speak. "Lady Arora, you look ravishing tonight."

She did not look at him, nor did she respond, but she stepped closer to Trey who did not seem to notice her sudden discomfort. Taeron's father was glaring at Lord Rendael, his earlier anger hardly abated. This was feeling more like a confrontation of battlefield emissaries meeting to discuss terms for a surrender that would be rejected before the start of the war.

Apolo was frowning, but he nodded in greeting to the head of house Caron. "Rendael, you have not been to Imperia in many years. My duties have kept me at Edgeland Fortress so I have not had a chance to meet with you since your return to court. You may be interested to hear that in the last few weeks there were several promising offers for your lovely daughter's hand in marriage that might have pleased you."

Rendael reluctantly took his gaze from Arora to look at Apolo. "Our female is here to marry the crown prince. I am finished entertaining offers for her."

Trey gave Apolo a censorious frown and Taeron wondered why Apolo had made such a remark.

"We all know what we are here for," spoke up Duo, his jocular tone strained for once. "I, for one, came for the food. Why don't we sit down, eat and then do whatever else needs to be done."

"Very tactful," muttered Trey with a glare at his imperial guard.

Duo ignored him. "The servants are waiting and I don't think any of us wants to get between the court and the delicacies from Teralon."

Although he seemed reluctant, Rendael nodded in agreement and turned on his heel to lead his people to the table set aside for them to the right of the emperor while Lord Duo led the way to the facing table to the left.

Taeron sat between his parents while Amyr chose to stand behind him. To his annoyance, Amyr leaned forward to pick food from his plate almost as soon as it was served, and when he was hovering over him, he whispered in his ear.

"If you need to clean out your teeth, I have a pick close at hand."

Duo turned his head to look at Taeron, having heard Amyr. "You have not ignored Trey's warning against blades in the hall this night, have you?"

Before Taeron could confess to what they had done – he was awful at lying or keeping secrets at court – Amyr shook his head. "He would not do such a thing, my lord father."

Duo looked at him for a moment longer as if expecting Amyr to confess to wrongdoing, and then he turned back to his meal. "Babe, pass that juicy spider over here. I heard the imperial chefs have made a tasty sauce."

Taeron had tasted the spider on campaign on Teralon when he and his warriors ate like kings in the marshlands, but now he could not put anything in his belly because he was sure it would resurface at a very inopportune moment. Keilana was wearing black like her father which accentuated her pale, delicate skin and he doubted she would appreciate seeing bits of murkwater spider drenching the costly fabric.

"How are we supposed to eat this?" demanded Duo after a search for tableware came up empty. Taeron noted that his father had a very large portion of the spider on his plate and he wondered how he was going to go about eating it. In truth, he was also wondering why there were no eating knives or forks.

"Use your hands," suggested Trey with a laugh from the head table. He raised a bite-sized morsel he must have torn from the beast on the plate set before him, but he turned to offer it to his wife, and when she leaned forward to take the offering with her teeth, she flicked out her tongue to lick the sauce from his fingers.

A growl in his ear made Taeron turn to look at his father to see that he was scowling and Taeron followed his gaze to the table of house Caron where he saw that Rendael was staring at the emperor's table. A male did not look at another man's mate the way he looked at Lady Arora and Taeron grew warm with anger. Did the emperor not see how the bastard was leering at his mate? No, because he was too busy fawning over her.

Resisting the urge to tell Amyr to bring his sword now, Taeron turned to look at his mother who was also watching the unabashed arrogance of house Caron. "Was Lord Rendael bonded to his mate?" The bond would remain after her death, and his need for a female would have died with her.

"His lands are too far from court for anyone to know for certain, although we can guess that he was not." Apolo told him from the other side, and Taeron sensed that he was just as bothered by Rendael's interest in his sister. "Some say that there are slave markets on the farthest reaches of his lands to which he turns a blind eye."

"A blind eye?" spoke up Larya. "I am sure he is a regular customer. Aevan's mother was a pretty female that his father dragged out of the Wastelands on one of his raids and Caerl's mother was a slave Zeno had given Caron who passed her along to Rendael when he was finished with her. Neither of them survived the birthing and some say Rendael grew bored and disposed of them. Keilana's mother was a female of house Wattan who made two unforgivable mistakes. The first was in birthing a female, the second trying to defy him. I have heard that she attempted to flee back to her father's lands, but she never made it."

These imperials were far worse than any clan that had settled on the moon. If Rendael disposed of the mothers of his children, he would have no qualms about removing the bastard that stood between him and the throne.

As the meal dragged on with course after course of the food provided by the Teralonians, the emperor continued to flirt with his wife and Lady Arora shamelessly enticed him. Taeron began to wonder if her behavior were part of a bigger plan, and he dared to hope for the first time that she might somehow rescue him. Yet the growing tension in the hall seemed to insure that the marriage he did not want would be the only way to avoid bloodshed this night if the look on his father's face were any indication.

"I was surprised the bastard came for the ceremony," remarked Duo, his tone low and ominous, his narrowed gaze on the man across the hall. "He was at the palace that night, and I don't know how he managed to escape."

"Rats like him are the first out of burning building," commented Trynity.

"I told Trey to cut off his head," continued Duo, "but he insisted on making peace."

"He was in no mood for cutting off heads," Apolo reminded him. "Trey was sick of fighting and he wanted to be with Arora to raise his children in peace. Forgiving house Caron and acknowledging Rendael as head of the house seemed to be the easiest solution. That was the last insurrection."

"Until now," said Taeron with a sigh. If he did not know the real reason behind Staefyn's rebellion, he might suspect house Caron of having a hand in it. But it was just a very inconvenient coincidence.

The meal was drawing to a close and Taeron had done little more than move the food around on his plate while he tried and failed to keep his eyes from straying to the table where Dijana's parents sat with their two guards standing behind them. Despite the emperor's restrictions concerning weapons, Taeron recognized all the deadly sharp chakrams Queen Neria had cleverly incorporated in her attire. Her consort also had gold bands around his biceps that were probably weapons, so Taeron scrutinized Guillem and Valter, noting that they had concealed thin, sharp knives that they called quills among their feathers. By the gods, were they expecting a battle?

Lady Arora left her husband's side and moved among the men and women of the court. They might revile her behind her back, but the emperor's wife was a gracious hostess who knew how to plan a celebration. A group of musicians had begun to play as she reached the table where Neria and Roehan sat. As she chatted with the royal couple, the emperor sat at the head table watching her with a dazed look on his face as he ignored whatever Shamara was trying to say to him on his right. Taeron could guess how he felt after she had been gone for several days. He was surprised Trey did not toss her over his shoulder and carry her out.

Rendael rose from his seat and he opened his mouth to speak and Taeron's heart felt as if it would burst in his chest, knowing that the moment had come for his freedom to end, but Arora spun around to look at Taeron.

"My lord prince, I have a favor to ask of you." she announced loud enough to cover whatever Rendael was starting to say. Taeron knew he was going to suggest they perform the oath and he would be glad to delay that as long as possible.

Pushing away from the table, Taeron walked around it to stand before the emperor's table to face her. "You know that I will grant you any favor you ask, my lady." His heart was still racing and he dared not look at Keilana or he might turn and run from the hall. He noticed Amyr exchange an amused look with Apolo and Taeron wanted to beat him for enjoying his discomfiture.

Arora was smiling with encouragement as she came to him. "I was just speaking to Queen Neria about your lovely singing voice. Did you know that males and females on Teralon join their voices in song at their marriage ceremonies?"

"I did not," he confessed. He and Dijana had not spent any time discussing the particulars of joining in marriage, not when they had so little time to be with each other. The courtship ritual of singing made more sense to him now, and his heart lurched to imagine his voice mingling with Dijana's in song. That would never happen now and he tried not to feel even more despondent than he already did.

Arora turned to address the men and women of the court. "You may have heard that our crown prince raised his voice in song during the courtship ritual on Teralon and that they continue to talk about his gods' blessed voice." She turned back to look at Taeron. "On this joyous occasion, Taeron, I would ask that you honor me and my husband with your song of love."

Singing about a love torn away seemed appropriate, so Taeron took a breath and began to sing, realizing as he did that several of the warriors placed around the hall began to hum softly as they had on Teralon, and soon the musicians picked up the melody which was well known to every Calabrian as a song of war. But Taeron did not sing about war, he sang the story of a prince whose love had touched Taeron's heart even as a small child. He once thought he had found his own love, but it had slipped through his fingers. In a matter of minutes he would be doused with the ice water of reality as he pledged his life to a woman he could not love, who despised him.

As the song was drawing to a close, another voice joined his, a husky female voice and at first he thought it might be Arora because as he stopped singing and the other voice took up the song, the words changed to tell the story of a woman whose heart ached because the only man she could ever love was forbidden to her. And when he was taken from her, she ceased to live. But Arora was standing near him and the female's voice came from the direction of the doors opened to the plaza.

Taeron turned slowly and he might have fallen to his knees had Arora not caught his arm. In the light of the two moons stood Dijana, holding her hands to her heart as she sang, her beautiful voice overwhelmed him. As she sang of Arora's love, Taeron stared at her incredulously, his eyes filling with tears to hear of the heartsick loss that the emperor's wife had suffered when parted from him. She sang with such feeling that he was sure she was singing about herself.

And when the last note of her lovely voice faded, she came forward, her gossamer gown swirling around her, she was a vision more beautiful than Taeron had ever seen. Her hair fell around her shoulders in golden splendor, and he imagined how she would have looked with the gold tipped wings that had been taken from her spreading out behind her.

She did not take her emerald gaze from his and he dared not breathe lest this wonderful fantasy come to an end.

But she reached out her hands to him, and when their fingers entwined, he knew that this was no fantasy, that the gods had heard his prayers

"I offer you my life, Taeron, prince of Calabria" said Dijana softly. "Will you accept it?"

"I do," he said, surprised that he could form words, and then he wanted to say more, but a few simple words would suffice. "I offer you my life, Dijana, princess of Teralon. Will you accept it?"

She came closer to him and raised her face to his and he saw the love he felt for her mirrored in her eyes. "I do."

Joy filled his being, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her close and burying his in her neck, breathing in her scent, still not believing that the gods had given him this gift.

He would never let anyone part them ever again!


	69. Chapter 69 Reckoning for house Caron

**Chapter 69**

Suddenly Taeron was torn away from Dijana so violently that she stumbled and would have tumbled to the floor had her father not leapt upon his table and flown across the hall to quickly scoop her into his arms. He carried her to safety back to the table where her mother had already slipped off the bangles on her wrist to hold in her fingers ready to throw and Guillem and Valter had taken defensive stances with deadly sharp quills in their hands ready to protect the royal family.

Renaeld stood facing Taeron, his body rigid with rage, his face red. "You have shamed my house!"

Arora did not give Taeron a chance to speak as she cut between them so forcibly that Taeron stumbled back, and she raised her chin to glare at the infuriated man. "No agreement has been signed, no oaths have been given and no bond has been made."

"You Guerani bitch!" he snarled. "You planned this entire farce!"

Taeron wondered if Arora did not believe he would have the audacity to strike against her because before she had a chance to react, he reached out to grasp her neck in his hands. Taeron lunged forward, but Renaeld tightened the hold on her and stepped out of his reach.

"Get back, crown prince, unless you want me to snap her neck."

Taeron saw the warning look in her eyes, and he had to remind himself that she was an imperial guard, probably the best imperial guard that was ever trained. He backed away, giving her room to do what she did well although his heart was pounding in fear for her.

"Let my wife go!" Trey was standing now and Taeron could see that he was shaking, whether from anger or fear or both, he did not know, but Taeron knew how he had felt when Dijana had been in Balak's threatening grasp. Renaeld would never leave this hall alive.

Renaeld laughed and leaned forward to speak in Arora's ear. "He doesn't know, does he. All these years I waited for him to come for me, and I did not even realize his ignorance until his warm welcome several days ago."

"It is the only reason you are still alive," Arora managed to force out.

"A woman like you deserves a better mate than that pathetic excuse for a male. Do you ever think often about that night, my sweet Arora, as I do?" He rubbed his face against her hair and breathed in deeply. "I will never forget! That fool Dilan never had you, and I had to listen to him whine and cry with need of you after he bonded himself to you. He treated me like dirt on the bottom of his heel, just like my brother." He dragged Arora against him. "I never thanked you for breaking my brother's neck that night, but then I owed him thanks for distracting you so I could have what you kept from them all."

"I should have broken yours instead," she hissed, her voice hoarse. Taeron saw that the emperor had come around the table, and Renaeld saw him as well.

"Stay back or I will kill her," he warned Trey. He laughed when Trey stopped moving. "I have you where I want you now, Trey, just as I had your mate that night, cowering like a dog as I took what I wanted. You were not the fierce warrior then, my sweet Arora. My father thought it amusing, and I think that was the only time he ever approved of me."

No one could move to stop him, not when a quick jerk could end her life. Taeron wished he had not left his daggers in his room. He would put one in the middle of his forehead and the other in his black heart although he truly deserved a slow and very painful death.

"I am going to kill you," said Arora through gritted teeth.

Renaeld rubbed his body against hers. "You could not do it then and you cannot do it now, Guerani whore. Your ancestors would never forgive you."

"I don't give a gods' damn if they forgive me or not." She suddenly broke his hold and flipped away from him. Twisting in the air, she landed facing him and she scarcely paused before she charged forward and Taeron knew that she could easily kill him with her bare hands.

But before she reached him, Lord Duo dived past her, a sword in his hand and his blade came down on a blade that Renaeld had pulled from inside his tunic. He would have gutted Arora on her attack had Duo not stopped him.

She came up hard against Duo and stumbled back, but when she quickly recovered and would have tried to go around him, Apolo dashed forward and seizing her arms, he dragged her away from them. The force of Duo's attack had rattled Renaeld whose training was as lacking as that of his sons. Duo was able to wrest the sword from his hand after driving him to the floor.

"Are you going to kill me, Maxwell?" taunted the lord of house Caron. "I slipped away from you that night when you were killing that old bastard Caron. Are you pleased to learn how badly your failed in your duty to the emperor?"

Taeron realized that his father had the sword of the crown prince that Amyr had hidden nearby, and he understood now why his imperial guard thought things might get ugly. Duo raised the sword above his Renaeld holding it with both his hands, his body tense, his face a mask of rage, and Taeron knew he was going to cleave the other man in half.

"Stop!"

The emperor's bellow stayed him, but he was shaking with the effort to restrain himself. "Let me kill him, Trey! He escaped under my watch, and now I will rectify the mistake."

"Will you take away my right?" demanded Trey harshly.

When Duo lowered the sword, Rendael's mocking laughter was cut short when the other man kneed him viciously between the legs, leaving him wheezing and whimpering on the floor. Duo stepped away, moving to stand between the house Caron bastard and Apolo who was still struggling to subdue his sister.

As Trey approached Rendael, he walked past Arora without even looking at her. His eyes were on Renaeld who was curled in a ball fighting for his breath. Taeron saw Keilana gripping the edge of the table where she sat, her eyes riveted to her father writhing on the floor while the other males of house Caron stayed back. Many of the men serving as guards in the palace were house Caron men and Taeron estimated at least a score who stood watching without betraying their feelings. They would not act now, not when Renaeld was only breaths away from death, not when he had revealed himself guilty of an unspeakable crime against the woman who had presented them with their imperial swords.

Duo offered Trey the sword, but he pushed it back, and after they exchanged a silent stare, Taeron's father stepped away although he remained within reach of the two men.

"So now you know," snarled Renaeld when Trey stood over him. His lip was curled in scorn, showing more bravery in the face of death than Taeron would have expected of the coward. "The tales they sing about the brave female imperial guard are all lies. Her own men led us to her!"

"Liar!" shrieked Arora.

Rendael turned to look at her, his smile disgusting Taeron who wanted to rip the man apart. "You don't need to pretend any more, Arora. Now everyone knows that you are just a female, a female that could not protect herself, good only for what I took from you."

Arora cried out in fury, but her scream was cut short when Apolo used the distraction to catch her hands and she became limp in his arms.

Rendael was smirking as he turned his head to look up at Trey who stood calmly over him, staring down at him. "She was a handful that night, too, but there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to protect her unborn brat." He looked at Amyr. "You can thank her skill as a whore for keeping you alive."

Amyr gasped furiously and darted to take the sword Renaeld had dropped, but Jeshed caught his arm and hauled him back.

The head of house Caron snorted derisively. "The house of Trey is filled with cowards and weaklings."

Before he could say anything more, Trey kicked him so hard in the face that his head snapped back and blood sprayed from his broken nose. Some imperials were fleeing now while others remained to watch the macabre spectacle, either wanting to hear of the Guerani whore's shame or to see the emperor destroy the arrogant head of house Caron. Taeron saw that Apolo was holding his now docile sister, and he suspected that even he did not know what had happened at the palace that night.

Renaeld spit blood at the emperor. "You can kill me, Trey, but that won't change anything." Renaeld's voice sounded strange through his broken nose. "Every time you touch that whore, you will remember what I have done."

Trey stared down at him silently for a moment and then he said, "Oh, I am going to kill you, make no mistake about that." When he drove his booted foot between Renald's legs which was still tender from Duo's blow, the other man howled piteously and his sons botled from their places. Aevan, tried to go to his father, but Amyr was suddenly before him, Renaeld's sword in hand, blade against his throat. Keilana backed away in terror, probably never having witnessed violence in her life, and yet she did not take her eyes off her father.

Trey dragged the other man up by his hair although he was squirming with agony and pulled him so that they were face to face. "And you are wrong, Rendael. It will change something. You will be dead."

"You cannot kill me either," Renaeld said with a crazed laugh that became a cough that spewed blood on the man holding him. "You need my warriors to fight that traitorous whelp hiding in the hills."

Trey's answer was to smash his fist in the other man's face, and the sound of cracking bones was audible as Renaeld's face caved in and blood sprayed out again. Letting him fall to the floor, Trey kicked him in the soft region of his belly, then stomped hard on his chest, and as he took out his rage for what had been done to his mate, viciously kicking and stomping him again and again, no one moved to stop him. When Renaeld ceased to resemble a man, the frenzy eased and Trey stood over him with bloodied clothing, the splatter making him nearly as unrecognizable as the pile of flesh that had once been Renaeld of house Caron.

Trey dropped down to straddle the other man. "I am going to be the last thing you see before I send you to the netherworld," he said, his voice so cold and deadly that Taeron did not even recognize it.

Renaeld's lips moved, to ask for mercy or to mock him one last time, no one would know because Trey squeezed his hands around his neck so that no sound came out. The body jerked beneath him as he squeezed tighter and tighter, but he released him suddenly and Taeron was shocked that Renaeld still drew in ragged breaths.

Without taking his eyes from the man beneath him, Trey held out his hand and Duo moved forward to hand him the sword of the crown prince.

Placing the blade against his neck, Trey leaned down until they were nose to nose, eye to eye. " _This_ is what I will remember, Renaeld." He leaned on the blade, slowly pushing it through the other man's flesh and Taeron was disgusted to hear the gurgling sounds Renaeld made until Trey slammed the blade through his spine, severing the head from his body.

There was complete silence in the hall as Trey grasped a handful of Renaeld's hair to raise the dismembered head, and he rose to walk to Duo to whom he handed it off.

"Mount this refuse in the plaza and let it be known that any male that violates a female will be beheaded." Clutching the sword in his hand, he turned on his heel and walked out, headed in the direction of his residence without even glancing at his mate.

Taeron turned to see that Arora was sitting on Apolo's lap, and by the blank stares on their faces, he knew Apolo had taken her far away from the horror of what had happened.

Stunned by the events, Taeron was surprised when he felt his hand grasped and he turned to see that his mother had come to him. "I doubt you envisioned this for your oath ceremony." She glanced at the bloody mass on the floor that the males of house Caron now stood over.

Taeron wondered what they would do. Given the circumstances, Trey had a right to take his life, but he doubted the Caron males would forgive the brutality, and from all he had learned about their lack of respect for females, they probably did not feel that the emperor was justified.

"Go to Dijana," Larya said. "She is your wife now."

Taeron turned to see that Dijana was sitting with her parents, her face pale, her eyes straying to the mess on the floor over which Aevan now tossed a table covering as Caerl grasped his sister's arm and dragged her away. Several house Caron warriors helped Aevan roll what remained of the body into the fine cloth to carry away, leaving a bloody stain that might never wash out of the stone.

When Taeron went to the Teralonians, Dijana moved away from her father and threw herself into his arms. Holding her close eased some of the horror Taeron felt at what he had learned, what he had witnessed.

For once Neria did not make a remark about Calabrian brutality although it could not get any worse than what they had just seen. "Lady Arora wanted to make you happy, my lord prince, even if it meant defying her husband," remarked Neria with a glance towards Arora and Apolo, "but I do not think she anticipated this."

Because Lord Renaeld had arrived at the palace after Arora left, she must not have known that he was there. Given what he had done to her, the secret she kept that meant the difference between his life and death, the bastard was either a colossal fool or arrogant beyond reason. If his presence had unnerved her, Arora hid it well, perhaps mistakenly believing Renaeld would not dare reveal the mutual secret that had been the cement of an empire.

"I think the emperor showed marked restraint," said Roehan. "Had a man boasted of doing such to you, Neria, I would have torn off his limbs before ripping out his heart."

Neria raised her brows, "You like these brutish Calabrians now, Roehan? Don't get any ideas or else ….."

He waved his hand to cut her off. "You need not threaten me, Neria. I much prefer females to do all the thinking."

"Where did you find this intelligent man?" Trynity had come to the table. She looked at Taeron. "I do not think it would be wise to perform the bonding ceremony in the plaza. The warriors of house Caron are leaving the palace and they will probably evacuate the city by morning, but some may remain to cause trouble for you."

By the time Lord Duo returned, wiping his bloody hands on a cloth after doing the gruesome chore of mounting Renaeld's head, the hall had cleared of all but the imperial family. Once the blood-letting had ended, the men and women of the court fled and Duo had ordered the doors closed behind him. The palace would remain empty for days if not weeks as the emperor prepared for the inevitable war.

"You will need to gather your warriors, Taeron. House Caron won't head south. The march is at least two weeks to Caron's holdings, I am sure Aevan will send a messenger south and take the warriors that were serving the imperial house and those training at Edgeland Fortress to the plains to set up camp and raid the villages for supplies as they wait for reinforcements to swell their ranks."

"We cannot muster enough men to fight them," predicted Taeron. "Most of my forces were of house Caron." He did not want to fight the men that had accompanied him to Teralon and Varoonya. They were not just warriors under his command, but friends who had shared much with him in the last five years.

His father swore violently, then he said, "We will contact Darlac and I am sure that Meridon will raise the clans and send men to the surface. He likes the status quo and won't want house Caron telling him what to do, not after the last time he made the mistake of listening to them, certainly not when he learns what Renaeld did. That may take a few days, but I doubt Aevan will act before then. He may run into trouble with Warlord Kai's men on the plains."

"You cannot ignore the very real possibility of Prince Staefyn allying with house Caron," remarked Trynity. "The warlord will see that they have a common enemy."

"If Staefyn allies with that house after what that bastard did to Arora, I will tear his head off myself," snarled Duo, shaking off his wife's hand when she tried to calm him.

"I can't believe Staefyn would do that," exclaimed Taeron. "I won't believe it!"

"He tried to kill his own mother," Duo reminded him. The hand he ran nervously through his hair was shaky, and Taeron realized that his father had probably relived that awful night in the palace with every word that Renaeld spoke. He might even be blaming himself for not returning in time to save Arora from the bastard even though he had saved her life this night.

He took a deep breath, and when he blew it out, he looked past Taeron to Dijana who was waiting quietly. "I have yet to meet your lovely wife."

Despite the circumstances, she managed a charming smile. "I am pleased to meet you, my lord. I have spent several days with Lady Trynity, so I have heard much about you."

Taeron's brows shot up in surprise. "Several days?"

Duo laughed and clamped his hand on his shoulder. "I think you and Trey were the only ones who did not know that Dijana was on Calabria."

"But you told Trey that she did not come with her parents."

"I did not lie, boy." He winked at Dijana. "She came with the Varoonyans now imprisoned at Edgeland Fortress."

"What!" Taeron spun to look at Dijana who was flushing guiltily. "You came to Calabria with Varoonyans?"

"I had no reason not to trust Princess Cydeara."

"Cydeara?!" Taeron could not believe she had spent any time with Rangyor's sister. "Do you not know who she is?"

"She told me that you were her special friend."

Did she sound jealous? Taeron would laugh if he wasn't so furious with her over her reckless behavior. "Cydeara is Warlord Kai's wife! I had her incarcerated at the Varoonyan royal palace under heavy guard, but Staefyn must have released her during his short stay on Varoonya. That female is completely devoted to Kai and would to anything for him, including bringing you to Calabria for him."

Dijana straightened her shoulders and raised her chin. "She failed, and whether she meant to or not, she helped me to return to you otherwise I would still be on Teralon."

"You would be safer there. Perhaps you should return." Taeron did not want her to leave, but Calabria was on the brink of war and if the imperial palace were overrun, he did not want to think about what the men of house Caron would do to the woman that had supplanted their female.

"I will not leave you," she said furiously.

Taeron looked at her father. "You must see that this is no place for her now."

He threw up his hands. "I have no intention of getting between my daughter and her mate. I already tried that unsuccessfully. She belongs to you now."

Duo was chuckling as he stood back to watch him and Taeron noticed that Stryfe and Amyr stood by as well with amused smiles for the problem he was having with his wife. He had not even been married for an hour and they were already arguing! And yet he was so happy!

"I will stay by your side no matter where it takes me or what happens," stated Dijana stubbornly. "And there is something else you will not make me do."

Taeron did not have time to be haggling over the terms of their marriage when he had to prepare for war. "You might as well tell me now because making me wait is probably not going to make me like it any better."

"I do not wish for you to bond with me."

He felt as if he had been hit in the chest. "But … but why?"

Dijana stepped towards him and reached out to take his hands. "I love you and I never want to be parted from you ever again, Taeron. But there will be many times that your duties will take you from my side and I could not bear knowing that you are in pain."

Taeron wanted the bond with Dijana, but she seemed determined and he could not deny her. "You have thought this through? Do you know what it means for me to be an unbonded male?"

She grimaced. "Lady Larya told me that females will flock to you, that perhaps some day one might turn your head."

The thought was laughable. "That would never happen, Dijana. I love you." He had ample proof that the bonding was not necessary in the marriages of his mother and father. Some day she might relent, but her demand was so sensible that he had no argument.

"As I suspected," spoke up Trynity. "Common sense from the princess of a planet ruled by females."

"My common sense tells me now that Prince Taeron should take my daughter to his chamber," announced Queen Neria.

"By the gods," muttered Taeron, although the suggestion was not without merit. The gown Dijana was wearing was very beautiful, and yet he was considering how much better it would look lying in a heap on the floor at the foot of his bed.

He glanced towards Apolo and Arora and found that they had not yet returned from their trance, and then he looked at his father. "What of my duties?"

"I think your first duty is to begin your house," he told him. "Apolo will take care of Arora, and if he needs help, Shamara and Chaela are nearby. As for the emperor, Amyr and I will go to him. He will need some time to work through his rage."

There was little for him to do that his father or Amyr could not, and morning would be soon enough for him to begin gathering his army to take against house Caron. He felt guilty for the happiness he felt on this miserable night, and yet Taeron did what he had wanted to do on Teralon countless times. He reached out and grasping Dijana, he pulled her up in his arms to carry out. At first she squeaked in surprise, and then she curled her arms around his neck to hold onto him tightly. His mother hurried ahead to open doors for him and after she opened the door to his chamber, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"You shall always be gentle with your mate," she warned him.

"Of course, mother." He saw that Dijana was trying to hide her smile in his neck and he very much wanted to see that smile with her head against the pillows of his bed.

Larya pulled his head down to kiss his cheek, but she whispered in his ear, "Remember what I said about those times when females like their mates to be rough."

"Mother!" Taeron could not believe that she was instructing him in the doorway of his chamber on his wedding night with his mate in his arms listening.

"And follow her instruction."

By the gods!

"When she is breeding, you need not discontinue your bedsport."

Taeron managed to shove her out and close the door. "I don't think I need any advice from her when I am with you."

But he used her advice anyway, restraining his own need so that he could be gentle with Dijana, but soon enough gentleness wore away to urgency and his mother's second bit of advice came in handy.

Taeron was still awake when the rays of first sunrise crept into his room. Dijana was dozing with her head on his shoulder, her arm across his chest, and Taeron mused that this was the first morning with her that he did not need to worry about anyone finding them together. If he weren't already exhausted after all that had happened in the last two days, he would roll her on her back and find out about the magical time between first and second sunrise.

He felt her stir and he thought he might get the chance when she raised her head to look at him in the faint light trickling in from the open window. "Lady Larya told me that the time between first and second sunrise is special."

"Magical," he corrected her as he reached up to brush the mussed hair from her face. How much had those females discussed out at Edgeland Fortress? If she had spent several days with her mother and Larya, he hoped he could live up to the expectations they had probably made for him.

She reached up to take his hand to guide down her body. Taeron was eager to do anything she wanted, to follow her instruction as his mother had advised him, but she placed his hand on her belly. "Then now is when I will tell you, my lord prince, that we have made a child."

His shock was overcome with the joy he felt, but he did not dare believe her. "You told me that until you are no longer enthralled ..."

"I am not enthralled," she interrupted him as she put her hand over his. "Lady Trynity thinks your blood cleansed mine." He could see her smile in the faint light and his heart ached with the love he felt for her. "Your magical blood," she added with a soft laugh.

Taeron laughed with her and drew her to him, keeping his hand on her flat belly. "How do you know so soon? Are you Teralonian females like Calabrians?" They had complete control over all aspects of breeding.

"I did not know," she told him. "Lady Trynity told me that it must have happened when you were courting me, that night when you climbed into my chamber through the window."

That night was a very fond memory and he brought her head to his shoulder turned his own to kiss her temple. "You should rest for the sake of the babe." He could scarcely believe he was going to be a father! Did he dare ask if the child was a boy or a girl? Did he care for one over the other? He would like a son to teach to be a strong warriors, but a daughter ...

"Taeron?" She was moving her hand across his chest, then sliding it downwards. "Do you remember your mother's last advice?"

Now he understood why she had made that cryptic remark about breeding and bedsport. By the gods! He realized that everyone had known about the child but him and Trey. Taeron should have been angry, but he could not with Dijana in his arms, their child growing inside her beneath his hand.

"I don't think the magic she spoke of between sunrises is moon sprites appearing on the floor," she said as she turned in his arms and stretched up to kiss him.

There was magic between first and second sunrise. Taeron made sure of it.


	70. Chapter 70 Cleaning up after the wedding

**Chapter 70**

"I don't know where Apolo has taken my mother, but he has her so deeply in a trance that when he carried her to his chamber, she did not return."

Amyr had come to the door to the emperor's apartments where Duo was sitting on the floor in the corridor, his sword in his hand, his back against the wall. Amyr had just left Apolo settled on the bed holding his mother after watching them with Shamara and Chaela. Shamara had wanted to find out where Apolo had taken their mother, but Apolo had warded them for privacy, and unlike the time at Edgeland Fortress when they had been able to sneak into their trance, this one was impenetrable.

Trynity and Larya had come to the chamber from directing what was left of the staff and the few guards that were not from house Caron to clear out the receiving hall. Roehan and his men were searching the palace for any house Caron men who might attack when they were vulnerable. So Amyr had gone to find Lord Duo.

The second sun had risen hours ago and after leaving his mother's side, Amyr had first gone by Taeron's room only long enough to hear that his presence would not be welcome. Given Dijana's penchant for throwing things at him, he did not like his odds when he knew that Taeron kept his daggers close at hand. So he came here to see if his father had opened his door to his imperial guard, and he was heartsick to see that Trey had not let anybody inside to comfort him, not even Duo. Amyr knew that Duo had spent the entire night waiting for him. He looked exhausted and dejected, probably after spending all that time replaying the night of the house Caron attack in his mind, castigating himself for whatever slip he imagined he had made that allowed Renaeld to torture the woman he had been sworn to protect.

With a sound of disgust, Duo suddenly straightened and rose. "He has had enough time and this floor is gods' damned uncomfortable." Without another word, he lifted his booted foot and slammed it against the thick, double doors, forcing them to crash inward and hang open uselessly.

He strode into the emperor's living area. "Trey! Where are you?" he bellowed.

There was a bloody trail, so they followed it through the residence to the balcony outside Trey's bedchamber where they found him sitting cross-legged on an old mat, his head hanging forward, the sword he had used on his lap. Amyr knew that his father had given his own sword to his mother after receiving it, that he had given it to her as a sign of his love. The sword of the crown prince had drank the blood of many, but none so deserving as the last life it had taken.

His father had not made any attempt to clean himself and the blood of Renaeld of house Caron had dried on his skin and clothing and begun to flake under the rays from the suns. Trey did not move, did not even acknowledge Duo's less than subtle entrance. He stared at the sword in his hands and Amyr saw that he had cut his fingers on the blade. Even those wounds had crusted over.

Duo exchanged a look with Amyr and then shook his head. "I will get a basin of water. Talk to him. He might respond to you."

Amyr sat facing his father and he reached out for his hands, but Trey jerked his own back, and fresh blood oozed onto the blade of the sword. Although momentarily hurt by his rejection, Amyr realized that his father did not want him disturbing his thoughts with his intrusive touch, so Amyr clasped his hands in his own lap.

He wished he would allow him to ease his pain, that he knew the words that would console him. Instead, he said, "There is much to do, father. They have all left the palace." Amyr smiled at his father's bowed head. "You have always wanted the palace cleared of those imperial sycophants. Well, they are all gone today."

He did not respond.

"Mother is with Apolo in his room in a trance. The women are watching over them."

He still had not spoken when Duo returned with a basin of water and a cloth. "Keep talking to him and clean him up a bit while I prepare a bath."

Since the servants ran fresh water through the bathing pools in the morning, Amyr suspected they had fled the palace with the men and women of the imperial court, probably fearing immediate reprisal by house Caron. The reports from the city all indicated that the southern warriors had headed in the direction of the Wastelands, just as Duo had predicted. They would march for several days and wait several more for the men in the south to join them. That would give his father some time to call for his own allies. Amyr knew this would be a test of their loyalty, the first after so many years of peace. Would they engage the powerful house Caron army or would they not consider what happened to a female many years ago justifiable cause?

After Duo left, Amyr soaked the cloth in the water and reached out to wipe the dried blood from his father's face, and he did not even move during his ministrations. Sighing, he rinsed the cloth in the basin and watched as the blood turned the water pink.

"Taeron is with Dijana." He smiled to himself and then chuckled. "He was completely surprised to see Dijana, but I knew that she had arrived. His mother told me to stay by his side and keep him from discovering her presence. I think he will probably be angry with me for keeping such a secret from him."

"An imperial guard should not keep secrets," he heard his father mutter although he had not raised his head.

Amyr heard a sound of dismay and he looked up to see that Duo had returned. He could see that his father's imperial guard looked regretful, but then he straightened and frowned at Trey. Without responding to the comment that was more about him than Amyr, Duo strode to where Trey sat and he seized the sword from his hand and wrenched it away, cutting him even more before he tossed it aside. He seized handfuls of his blood-stained clothing and jerked him up, and when Trey tried to shove him away, Duo caught him in a hug from which he could not struggle free. He used his considerable strength to wrestle him inside from the balcony and through to the bathing chamber. Amyr followed, waiting for a chance to help, but Duo was more than capable and Trey soon ceased his struggles, his limp body becoming more of an obstacle than his struggles had been.

Stepping into the pool, Duo dragged the emperor in with him, and Trey gasped and arched his body to escape. The water in the pool quickly became befouled with Renaeld's blood and Amyr could tell by the chill in the usually humid bathing chamber that Duo had filled the pool with cold water. Chattering himself, Duo shoved Trey's head beneath the water and held it there for several seconds, then pulled Trey up to let him take a breath before shoving him back beneath the frigid water. After doing so another time most of the blood had been cleaned from him.

They stood in the pool then, their sodden clothing stuck to them, shivering from the cold and Duo put his hands on Trey's shoulders.

"I gave Arora my word that I would not tell you how close Caron came to cutting off her head."

Trey raised his head and his eyes met Duo's.

"If I had known what Renaeld did to her,"continued Duo. "I would have hunted that bastard down and cut him in half. I swear to the gods, I never would have agreed to keep that from you. I never would have let you pardon that worthless dung."

Tears spilled over Trey's lashes and ran freely down his cheeks as he raised his head to meet Duo's gaze, but Amyr could feel that he was too overwhelmed to speak.

"Renaeld lied to you, Trey. Her men were slaughtered trying to defend her, not leading them to you, and she fought to save them as they fought to protect her. But Caron had too many men and he butchered them all. I was almost too late."

"I should have been there!" Trey swayed and Duo brought him close to hold in his arms. "Gods, Duo! How she must have felt when I publically pardoned that bastard! How could she have lived with this for so many years?" He turned his head to look at Amyr and he closed his eyes as if the sight were too painful before he turned back to look at Duo. "I am not worthy of her!"

"Arora loves you, Trey. She did what she thought she must to protect you and her children, and every one that she has grown to love."

Trey reached up to wipe at the tears still sliding down his cheeks. "They call her a whore and she has more honor than any of us."

"She is with Apolo now. They will return when she is ready."

His father did not respond, so Amyr found a drying cloth. "You should get out of the cold water, father."

He shivered violently and he let Duo help him out of the pool. "By the gods, Duo, you almost killed me giving me a bath!"

Duo slapped him on the back, propelling him towards Amyr. "Your son can heal you."

Trey moved away from him and after he peeled off his clothing he allowed Amyr to wrap him in the drying cloth. Amyr dried him as if he were Yori, rubbing the cloth vigorously and when he finished, he found his father staring at him with a frown.

"Are you going to tuck me in now?"

Duo snorted. "If you don't go to your bed on your own, _I_ will tuck you in and you will like it even less than the bath."

Trey took the cloth from Amyr and after wrapping it around his waist, he headed to his bedchamber. He stopped just inside and stared at the bed and Amyr knew that he would not be able to keep himself from imagining what had happened to his mate when her scent was everywhere.

After a moment, he let out his breath. "I would like some tea," he announced and then he walked to the bed.

Duo marched out in his soaking clothing, so Amyr followed his father to the bed and when he sat, Amyr knelt before him and ignoring his father's protest, he seized his hands where he had cut them on the blade of the sword. As he healed him, he used his senses to determine if he was hurt elsewhere, and his father's thoughts came to him unbidden, sorrowful thoughts for his wife who had lived so many years in the very rooms where a monster had violated her, where she had almost lost her life.

When he finished healing his hands, Amyr put his hands on his father's shoulders and peered up at his face. "Father, you surely realize that my mother experienced so many happy moments in these rooms."

"You have intruded on my private thoughts," he accused him resentfully. "You are worse than Shamara."

Amyr would not let his father's words hurt him. "You sent your feelings to me; I did not probe for them."

"And I did not ask for you to speak of them aloud."

He ignored him because he needed for his father to listen to what he would say. "Does it matter where that bastard hurt her? Even if it was in this very room, she has known pleasure with you here and the joy of bringing your children into the world. I was born in this bed, father, the same night he tried to destroy her. Don't let your knowledge of those few moments of horror undo all the years of happiness."

His father reached up to put his hand on Amyr's cheek. "You were a spoiled rotten bastard of a son. Now you are so wise."

Amyr put his hand up to cover his father's. "When Taeron sang of your love and your pain, father, the gods spoke to me and for once, I listened. Did you listen to Dijana as she sang mother's words? As your love for her grew, so did hers for you. You have always known that she would give her life for you and I know that she still would."

Trey sighed deeply and for a moment he did not speak and Amyr did not pry into his thoughts. Then he said, "I am so ashamed for what I was forcing Taeron to do when I knew that he loved another." He raised his gaze to Amyr. "Your mother saved me from making that mistake."

Duo returned then with a pot of steaming liquid and two delicate cups that seemed more suited for females. He must have changed clothing while the tea brewed. "You can thank Larya for these ridiculous cups which she warned me she wants back, and I warn you, Trey, that Trynity prepared the tea. She said it was a special brew just for you."

Amyr saw his father purse his lips before he said, "Are you allowed to drink it as well, Maxwell? Because if you are not, I can only assume that she has finally decided to poison me." He held out his hand. "Give me a cup of her witch's brew anyway."

Chucking Duo filled the two cups he brought and handed one to Trey. "Sorry, Amyr, but Trynity assured me that it will knock out a canyon beast and after last night, I need the rest. Somebody has to have a clear head, even if it is you."

"I am gratified by your faith in me, my lord." muttered Amyr, but he was amused as he watched the two men.

"A canyon beast?" Trey touched his cup to Duo's. "Here's to Trynity Stryfe. We would both be a mess without her, you because she is the only female that would put up with you and me because I need her pharmaceuticals."

They drained their cups and then laughed as they tossed the fine china over their shoulders to break on the floor before they fell on their backs on the bed.

"Sometimes I miss the other guys," Amyr's father commented after a moment. "Life was so much easier then."

"Yeah, smoking a little of that greenery you were growing in the garden …."

"... annoying the teachers and cutting classes ..." Amyr's father sighed. "Did you see how beautiful Arora was last night? For once I could have had the belle of the Stardust Ball dancing in my arms."

Lord Duo grunted. "She can't dance, and neither can you."

Trey laughed. "By the gods, Duo! That woman planned and pulled off Taeron's wedding to Princess Dijana right under my nose!"

"You were too busy ogling her to notice." Duo laughed with him. "It's too bad she took notes from Relena on how to throw a party."

When they stopped laughing, Trey said, "I think Miss Stryfe has dropped a few of her special herbs in the tea."

"I am feeling it too."

"I cannot remember the last time I was this high. Gods' damn, I am starting to feel sleepy."

Lord Duo opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes rolled up and managed only an incomprehensible mumble.

Amyr was smiling as he left the two men unconscious, and he went to Apolo's room. Upon entering, he saw Trynity holding his mother's wrist, so Amyr knew she was making medical observations. If anyone deserved to be a Guerani healer, it was Lady Trynity, but the gods had another plan for her. Without her remedies, many people would suffer.

"Are they out?" she asked.

He nodded. "Is my mother well?"

"Her pulse is steady, so Apolo must have taken her some place soothing."

"I wish mama would come back so that we can help her," said Chaela anxiously.

"She needs time away," said Shamara. "Apolo is with her."

Larya was looking at her mate. "Even when I believed the scars of my past were too old for him to heal, he knew exactly how to ease the pain."

Amyr looked at her. "Did you know what happened to my mother?"

She nodded. "Arora told me many years ago after Taeron was born. She needed to tell someone because the secret was causing her distress, and I told her then that she should reveal it to her mate, but she was adamant that no one know, not even Apolo."

"My father's rule was not as stable then," commented Amyr. "He would have taken whatever houses he could rally to attack Caron and we probably would not be sitting here now."

"No, we would not," agreed Larya. "Over the years Arora has earned the respect of the warriors and the great houses. Trey will have many, if not all, behind him now."

Amyr reached out to touch his mother, and when he felt Apolo's wards, he sighed and went to sit on the floor beside Trynity who put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the concern in her eyes.

"Have you heard anything more from Quynn?"

He glanced briefly at Shamara. They had tried without success to reach Staefyn. If he heard them, he ignored them. "If Staefyn has harmed her, he would have let me know by now."

"I supposed he would have. If he is keeping her safe, which we have no reason to believe that he is although Arora is certain he would not harm her when she is carrying a Guerani child, we cannot believe that Xuxa and Kai are under the same restriction." Trynity sighed. "I abhor war, but I will be glad when this one has come and gone even though I be kept busy with many, many injured."

"We will help you," spoke up Shamara. "Dagan insists that I stay out of the fighting, but he did not forbid me from helping the healers."

"I am surprised that he does not demand that you return to Bayman," remarked Trynity. "Taeron wanted Dijana to return to Teralon with her parents. I agree that she would be safer there."

"Her parents are not leaving either," Larya told them. "Neria intends to fight and her mate did not try to talk her out of it."

The queen of Teralon and her mate were every bit as bloodthirsty as any Calabrian although they preached otherwise. "You need not worry about your friend," Amyr told Larya. "I have seen her fight on several occasions. She is a formidable warrior." And more ruthless than any man.

The door opened and Yori poked his head in. "May I enter, papa?"

He nodded and when Yori came to him, Amyr pulled him onto his lap. "Why are you not at your lessons?"

"The master of letters did not come and Jeshed could not find him. Stryfe did not even look at us when we went to see him, so Jeshed went flying and he said I could not go with him because he was going to look at the army for Taeron and it might be dangerous. Will you give me my lessons today, papa?"

Shamara covered her laugh with a cough.

Chaela was not nearly as polite. "You can probably give your father lessons by now."

Amyr saw Trynity smile and he laughed at the absurdity of giving reading lessons to Yori. "I am sorry, Yori, but Chaela is right. I ignored my lessons, so I do not read well."

"Or at all," Chaela corrected him.

Yori frowned. "May I also ignore my lessons?"

Feeling like a hypocrite, Amyr was about to tell Yori he had no choice, but Lady Trynity answered for him. "Your father regrets the fine opportunities that he squandered." That statement was not altogether true. Amyr found reading an oppressive bore. "You do not want to do the same, do you?"

"I like to read." Yori was looking at him, so Amyr knew he had read his thoughts and disapproved. "I have read many exciting stories from the archives."

"I prefer to live them," Amyr admitted, drawing more snickers from his sisters.

Yori stood and went to the bed. "Where is grandmother? Can I go to her?" Before anyone could stop him, he climbed onto the bed to cuddle beside Arora and he reached out to take her hand. Amyr expected him to say something about the ward blocking him, but Yori's eyes became blank as he entered the trance with his grandmother.

Shamara and Chaela leaped to their feet and hurried to the bed, and Amyr joined them. Shamara reached out to touch them, then shook her head. "I cannot get through."

Amyr tried as well and found the same wall he had felt earlier. "Did Apolo let him in?"

"I doubt he would want a child disturbing them," remarked Larya.

"Then Yori can breach Apolo's wards," said Chaela with awe. "How does he have so much power?"

"Do you think Jeshed knows something about it?" suggested Shamara. "Jeshed has been with him since his birth."

"There is nothing particularly magical about Jeshed," Trynity told him. "unless you consider his ability to transform into a dragon, something I understand even less than magic. The changes at the molecular level …" Shamara cleared her throat and Trynity seemed to realize that no one understood her. She mumbled something about becoming as bad as her father before speaking again. "Quynn had assumed that Jeshed initiated the trances, but Jeshed admitted that Yori did it, that as an infant, Yori unlocked the stones of the bracelet into which he had been imprisoned."

Before they could speculate any further, Yori stirred and sat up, releasing his hold on his grandmother's hand. "Grandmama told me to come back after I have told you all that she is well, and she wants me to bring grandpapa to her." Without any further explanation, Yori hopped off the bed and dashed from the room.

Amyr exchanged glances with his sisters and then they hurried after the boy who raced the deserted corridors before ducking through the doorway that Duo had destroyed. Yori did not stop until he had climbed on the bed with his grandfather and seized his hand. Since he was already unconscious, the only evidence that Trey had entered the trance was when his body jerked at Yori's touch.

The three older Guerani stared at Yori in incredulous silence for several moments. Amyr could not even imagine how his son came to be so powerful. A small child should not even be able to initiate a trance let alone tie it to another.

Chaela must have been reading his thoughts because she said, "Stryfe has studied the Guerani texts that were found in the hills. Do you think he can tell us something about Yori's abilities?"

Amyr remembered Stryfe boasting of his superior knowledge of Guerani development when they had been on Norvana, so he suggested consulting him. Chaela wanted to stay behind with Yori to watch over him and their father, but Shamara went with Amyr to Stryfe's workroom. They found the scribe busy writing on a parchment. As usual he did not acknowledge them or look up from his work.

"Why must we always perform this ritual?" asked Amyr with annoyance. "I know you are busy, but ..."

"And I know that you believe, as you always do, that what you want is more important than anything I have to do." Stryfe had not raised his head to speak to him.

Amyr glanced at Shamara. "Maybe he will listen to you."

Before she could speak, Stryfe did. "Why would I listen to her? She is every bit as spoiled and demanding as you."

"I am not spoiled!" declared Shamara hotly. "Nor am I demanding!"

"There are several scrolls worth of accounts from your childhood that beg to differ," said Stryfe with a chuckle.

Amyr grinned at his sister. "And you thought you got away with all your tantrums."

"I did not have tantrums." Shamara was flustered and Amyr wanted to laugh, but they had come to see the scribe for a purpose although hearing what his predecessors had written about Shamara would have been amusing. Perhaps another time he would return and have Yori read them to him. He noticed Shamara glaring at him.

"We want to hear what you discovered in the Guerani texts," said Amyr, looking back at the scribe.

Although he hadn't stopped writing, Stryfe frowned. "Can you imperials ask me to unroll scrolls that are not caked with centuries of dust? My sinuses are still recovering from the last time you were here."

Shamara crossed to him and put her hand on his head. "You are lying! You have no ill effects from our last visit."

"I was not lying, I was exaggerating." With a disgusted sigh, Stryfe set aside the feather with which he was writing. Amyr noted that it was gold tipped.

"Did you get that from Prince Roehan?"

"These Teralonian quills are excellent for writing." He picked up the long feather to turn in his hand. "He dropped a half a dozen last night in the hall, and I have some from Queen Neria as well. These quills are far sturdier than any from the birds on Calabria and I can sharpen them to a fine point. I may have to follow them about to harvest their feathers."

Amyr doubted Roehan would appreciate the scribe dogging his footsteps nor those of his mate.

"We did not come here to discuss what you use to scribble with," snapped Shamara irritably.

Stryfe snorted. "The truth is rather painful, is it not, princess?"

"You are going to feel something painful if you do not cooperate." Shamara was glaring at him with her fists clenched at her sides. Amyr wondered if Dagan saw this side to his sister often. Since Amyr had grown up with her, he knew that Dagan saw this Shamara daily. He had probably been relieved that she had gone to visit her family.

"I can hear you thinking, brother," she said through gritted teeth.

"In the interest of keeping peace among the imperial siblings, I will fetch the Guerani scrolls."

When Stryfe set aside his precious quill and went to the backroom where they could hear him grumbling as he moved around the round leather cases into which the scrolls were stored, Shamara reached out and snatched up the quill he had been using and ground the point on the floor before quickly replacing it as Stryfe came out with an armful of scrolls. Amyr frowned at Shamara's childish behavior, and yet he wanted to pat her on the back for a job well done.

"Where do you want me to begin? What are you looking for this time?"

"We want to know why Yori is so powerful," Shamara told him.

Stryfe frowned at her. "Perhaps you should be asking yourselves why you are less powerful."

She made a sound of exasperation, but Amyr spoke before she could irritate Stryfe any further. "I know that you are busy recording the events of last night and that we are intruding ..."

"Do you know how impossible this work is? Your father wants to be amused when I read the accounts. I can hardly put a comical spin on what happened last night." Stryfe scratched at his head.

"Papa was there. I think he knows what happened well enough," said Shamara unsympathetically.

"My father does not need to be entertained with that episode," agreed Amyr.

"I still have to enter into the official record the marriage of the crown prince," Stryfe told him. "I have been eagerly looking forward to telling that story, but this business with house Caron has made it beyond impossible."

"You will figure it out later, you always do." Amyr sensed that Stryfe wanted to hear some approval and once he had given it, the scribe was less anxious. Amyr pointed to the scrolls that were old and brittle from age. "Have you read them all?"

"Most," he said. "What has Yori done now that has you speechlessly amazed? His development would not be cause for concern among the Guerani who left these texts behind. In fact, it was quite common."

"But Yori is not full-blooded Guerani," pointed out Amyr. "There is less in him than in me."

"Yori was conceived in a trance," Stryfe told him. "He is able to enter in and out of them with no effort because he is of that world, not this one."

Shamara gasped. "Is he in any danger by staying in this world?"

Stryfe shook his head. "No. In fact, to keep bloodlines pure when Guerani mated with plainsmen or Calabrian imperials, they did so in a trance. Yori has pure Guerani blood. If you want the rest of your children to be the same, you know what to do."

Amyr exchanged a look with Shamara, then he nodded to Stryfe. "Thank you for giving us your time."

Stryfe went back to his work. "If I have answered your question sufficiently, I have an epic tale to write." He picked up his quill, and as he studied the end, Shamara grasped Amyr's hand to hurry out and they were halfway down the corridor before they heard his bellow of anger.

"That was very childish," remarked Amyr with a laugh when they came to a stop.

"You know you wanted to do it," she said. "Now that we know why Yori is so strong, what do you want to do?"

He raised a brow. "Why do you ask?"

"Yori can slip past wards."

Amyr shook his head vehemently when he realized what she was about to suggest. "No! I won't use my son to get inside Guerani Palace."

"He may be able to give us a chance to speak to Staefyn. By the gods, Amyr, do you know what will happen if his warlord makes an alliance with house Caron?"

"Would you use _your_ son to contact that madman?"

"He is our brother and Guerani like us! I should think that you, above all people, would understand what he is suffering in that female's power!"

"Because he did it to me!" Amyr was furious that she could think he was sympathetic to Staefyn's plight. At least Staefyn was with his mate when Amyr had to spend years dealing with the pain his separation from Quynn had caused.

"We have to try to help him," insisted Shamara.

"I will only agree if mother and Apolo think it is a good idea."

She rolled her eyes. "When have they ever thought us capable of a good idea?"


	71. Chapter 71 Friend or foe?

**Chapter 71**

The days following Quynn's trip into Staefyn's past blended one into another with little to break the monotony. Since that day almost two weeks ago, she had not seen Staefyn although she knew he was in and out of the palace. Quynn wished he would not have left her with his repulsive mate for company, because now that she knew what Xuxa had done to him when he was just a child, Quynn had difficulty keeping her magic in check when she wanted to incinerate the old whore. Xuxa may now wear the costly garments and jewels of an elegant imperial lady, but Quynn saw only the foul creature that had lured an innocent child into her lair and made him her slave. Quynn wanted to tell Staefyn about the relief her mother could provide with her medicine to treat the worst symptoms of bonding so that he could break Xuxa's hold over him, but he did not give her a chance and she wondered if he was purposely avoiding her.

Because Staefyn was not present to demand it, Quynn stopped sharing her meals with Xuxa. The sight of her disgusted her, and she was sickened by the signs that her virile young mate spent the night satisfying her, the dark circles under her eyes, her thin lips puffy, her sagging skin flushed. Even worse, there were many times that Quynn saw her with Kai, and she doubted it was natural that a bonded male would allow his female to have sex with other males. Then again, there was nothing natural about her relationship with Staefyn.

As far as Quynn knew, when Xuxa wasn't making demands on Staefyn, she spent her time plotting more ways to revenge herself on the imperial family. Destroying the life of one of their sons was not enough for her. The woman was a survivor, and to that end she was hedging her bets with Kai in case Staefyn failed, not even realizing that the Varoonyan's future did not include her. Kai's announcement that his wife, Princess Cydeara of Varoonya, was to arrive soon leading an army of thralls had shocked Xuxa. She had not known that another woman had a claim to her lover, and she was more infuriated to learn that his wife was bringing to him the female he wanted above all others, Princess Dijana of Teralon. Since she avoided Xuxa, Quynn had learned of these developments through Vaedra. Although she did not often talk about Xuxa, Vaedra commented that her temper was growing shorter as the projected time for the females to arrive drew near.

Quynn could not believe that Dijana would willingly come to Kai, but then she had not come to know Dijana very well during their time together on Norvana. She had thought that Dijana returned Taeron's feelings, but she must have rejected him when he returned to Teralon to claim her. If what Staefyn had noticed about Taeron was true, her brother had gone to Norvana to have Carrinda remove his bond. Quynn knew nothing about thralls except that they were compelled to obey their masters against their own wills. If Dijana had chosen to reject Taeron, Quynn could only conclude that the Varoonyan had somehow forced her to do so. No woman in her right mind would choose a creature like Kai over the lord prince of Calabria.

Kai had been receiving regular reports from his wife who was en route from Teralon, but on the day he expected his females, they did not arrive. Vaedra told Quynn that the warlord was infuriated to learn that his princess' ship had been detained on Ulfynaeus. Because Staefyn had used up all his space resources attempting to stop Taeron from going to Teralon, there had been no way for Kai to prevent the space forces on the second moon from forcing the Varoonyan vessel to land. Although it was more usual procedure for ships headed to Calabria to land at Edgeland Fortress, the Calabrians must have known what the Varoonyan princess was planning and prevented her from reaching the surface. Quynn was dismayed only two days later when Vaedra told her that she learned that the Varoonyan ship was allowed to leave Ulfynaeus and the warlord was eagerly waiting the arrival of his wife and the princess with whom he had become obsessed.

When Vaedra told her that the ship was approaching, Quynn went out to her garden to watch the ship fly low over the palace, but it continued on without landing. Curious, she was about to go inside to call for Vaedra so that she could find out what had happened, but voices in the garden on the other side of hers stopped her and she was surprised to hear Staefyn's voice.

"I believe you have been outplayed."

"Shut up, sorcerer!" There was no mistaking the angry voice of Warlord Kai.

His foul mood alarmed Quynn. When the warlord became angry, a servant usually disappeared, and Vaedra told Quynn that it was becoming difficult to bring females into the palace to work, so Quynn hoped he did not turn his greedy gaze on Vaedra. Quynn did not need her to do the things Xuxa demanded of her, helping her bathe and dress, arranging her hair, but she did appreciate her company when she brought her meals and she had grown to like the older woman. Her dedication to Staefyn was commendable since it was the only reason she served Xuxa.

"Your fleet has been detained and now your wife along with your whore have been taken to Edgeland Fortress." By Staefyn's bland tone, he did not seem affected either way by what had happened.

Kai made an irritated sound. "I will get them back, and I will get the army I need to destroy the empire if I have to enthrall every man, woman and child in these gods' forsaken mountains." Quynn knew he had left when his clipped footsteps receded.

"The fleet was to be the bulk of your army," admonished Xuxa several moments after he had gone. "What will you do now?"

"Continue as I have. I have everything I need here: a comfortable palace and a female who fills most of my needs."

" _Most_ of your needs?" huffed Xuxa. "I have filled _all_ of your inexhaustible needs."

"I owe my inexhaustible needs to you, my dear Xuxa," Staefyn reminded her. "But there is one need you cannot fill, that you can never fill."

Since the old female never seemed to leave him wanting, Quynn wondered what he was talking about when Xuxa said, "I have allowed you to keep that useless female so that you can have the child in her belly. What more can you want?"

Quynn stifled a gasp when she realized why they kept her at Guerani Palace when killing her would cause Amyr more pain. If Staefyn wanted her, there was no way he could act upon his desire, something he had long since given up even trying. Xuxa's polite acceptance of her was now understandable when she needed to keep her comfortable for the sake of the baby.

"And if I should want another child, a son?"

"Does she not have a male child? When we slay her mate, you may take that child as your own as well." Quynn put her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out in dismay and she felt the stones at her neck grow warm, but she managed to control her emotions before her magic grew out of control.

"I want my own child." Staefyn's resentment was understandable, but Quynn did not care when he was planning to take her children to be raised by the witch.

"You will be satisfied with hers. Did you not say that the boy has your powers? You will come to care for him as your own."

"I will always know that he is Amyr's son."

"I know how to make you forget."

"This is your answer to everything. Leave me in peace, woman!" But Quynn heard him groan and she knew that Staefyn could not resist her. Xuxa's knowledge of males and especially of him, made it impossible. "Gods curse you, female."

His capitulation made Xuxa laugh before she gasped with pleasure, driving Quynn back into her chamber where she paced for what seemed like hours, wringing her hands as she worried about her children. She missed Amyr terribly, but there was nothing she could do when Staefyn kept her under constant guard. Since the night that Amyr had reached her in a trance with Shamara's help, she had not seen him again, not in the physical world, not even in a dream. If she would begin to dream of Amyr, any pleasant dream that might help with the loneliness she felt would abruptly end, so she knew Staefyn monitored her sleep to keep her away from his brother even in a world that did not exist. For now Yori was safe with Amyr, and no harm would come to Quynn because Xuxa wanted her baby for Staefyn. There was still a chance that she could reason with Staefyn.

A few days later she had a chance to talk to him when she came upon Staefyn in the outer chamber of the receiving hall. A smaller version of the antechamber of the imperial palace, it was nonetheless enormous with a high vaulted ceiling that boasted crystal glass windows with colored designs that were breathtakingly beautiful. When the suns were at equal distance which they were now, soothing blue and pale yellow light flowed through the glass which had a calming effect. As anxious as she had been over what she had overheard, even Quynn became relaxed and she wondered how much was caused by the surroundings and how much Staefyn was responsible for when he saw her approaching.

He had been listening to a man, but he dismissed him and the man bowed before leaving as Quynn came to stand near.

Because he seemed to be avoiding her, she was surprised that he did not leave with the other man. Instead he closed the distance between them. "You look well, sister."

"Am I your sister now? I thought I was your prisoner."

He gave her a half-smile that was so much like Amyr's that her heart beat a little faster. "As much as I abhor the thought of that boor having such a precious female, I cannot deny that you are my brother's mate." His gaze dropped to her belly and when he stepped closer so that he could lay his hand on the small mound, she wanted to shove him back, to deny him any access to her child, but Quynn could not even move and she realized that she wanted him to touch her. She could not imagine where these feelings came from if not from her condition. Amyr had not been with her when she carried Yori, and he was not with her now, but there was a male offering comfort and she could not rebuff him when she craved the affection of another.

There was no need for words for Staefyn to sense her need and he slipped an arm around her shoulders to bring her close to his body. "Close your eyes," he murmured softly, his lips against her forehead.

She closed her eyes, hating that she enjoyed feeling his arm around her, the warmth of his body. Was she betraying Amyr to feel like this in Staefyn's arms?

"Open your eyes." Staefyn's words did not seem to be spoken; she no longer felt him against her, and yet she heard him clearly.

Doing as he commanded, she was no longer in Guerani Palace, but was sitting in a small room on an uncomfortable chair before a table. When she saw Amyr sitting on a bench under an open window across the room, her heart beat faster with the happiness that flooded her body. For only a brief moment, she watched him and she wanted to drink in the sight of him, but against her will her head turned away and her eyes focused downward on what she realized were symbols of Calabrian writing on a parchment. There was an old man speaking, extending his bony finger to point at the symbols, telling her what they indicated, but she raised her eyes to look at Amyr again when he spoke.

"I see that Taeron is taking his obligatory morning stroll with Lady Keilana," Amyr remarked.

"I want to see."

She gasped in joyful surprise to see Yori, who had been sitting nearby, drop the scroll he had been studying to scamper onto Amyr's lap. The old man grumbled that he had not been given permission to leave, and he made a sound of exasperation when Quynn left her place to join Amyr. While she wanted to put her arms around her husband and son, she could not control the body from which she was seeing.

Her attention was drawn to the courtyard beneath the window where she saw Taeron walking with a pale, dark-haired female who was delicately beautiful. He was leaning towards her to listen to whatever she was saying, but Quynn detected a hint of annoyance on her brother's face that the woman did not see and she sensed that he was not enjoying her company.

"I don't like her," she heard Yori say.

"Prince Yori," admonished the older man who Quynn guessed was his teacher. "Lady Keilana of house Caron is an honorable female."

The body she was borrowing leaned toward Yori and whispered, "I do not like her either."

"I don't think our opinion matters, Jeshed," said Amyr. "Nor does Taeron's."

Quynn was surprised to realize that she was in Jeshed's body, and she wondered if he could sense her, but he must not because he would have told Amyr by now.

"The crown prince will do his duty for the empire and if that means he will marry Keilana of house Caron, then he will do so." By his brusque admonishment, Quynn knew the teacher did not approve of their discussion. "The merger of the two greatest houses of Calabria will make the empire stronger."

Amyr looked at Jeshed, but he did not see Quynn looking at him although her heart ached to meet his golden gaze. "Better Taeron than me."

"Or me," Jeshed responded. "She is colder than the frostiest wind I have encountered high in the skies."

Yori turned to look at Jeshed, but he did not say what he intended because when his eyes met the shapeshifter's, she saw recognition and Quynn realized that he sensed her presence. Before he could say anything, she was drawn so quickly away that she became dizzy and collapsed against Staefyn.

Staefyn held her in his arms as she recovered from the experience, and while she knew it must certainly repulse him, he stroked her back. They did not speak for several moments until Quynn raised her head from his chest to look up at his face.

"How can you hold me?" She expected him to be physically sick by now.

"Because your child and I share our blood," he told her.

She wondered if she should be offended that he no longer seemed to view her as a desirable woman. Then again she would rather he not vomit in her presence as that had ceased to be flattering.

"Your son is powerful," he remarked after a moment. "But I knew that he would be because of how he came to be."

She raised her head to meet his gaze. "In a trance?"

"Like the shapeshifter, he lives among us, but he is from another world."

His explanation startled her and she looked up at his face. "What will become of him?"

Staefyn gave her a half-smile. "Do not worry about your son. He is as real as any other child, just as real as the shapeshifter. But unlike every other child, he can move freely between the worlds, just as the dragon can shift to the form of a man. He is both, yet he is neither. I would not be surprised to receive a visit from Prince Yori in the future."

"You will not hurt him?" She hated asking when he had been kind enough to allow her to see Yori and Amyr.

His brows rose in surprise and then he remarked, "In a way, I feel responsible for him."

"Because you put Amyr in that trance?" Quynn frowned and stepped back. "You were trying to kill Amyr, not providing him with a means to procreate."

To her annoyance he shrugged. "He did not die, did he?"

"You meant for him to die!" Quynn did not understand Staefyn. One moment he seemed rational and the next he did not deny trying to cause the death of his own brother.

"If I meant for him to die, I would have devised a means for it to happen." The look he gave her now challenged her to deny his ability to do just that. Quynn had seen enough to know that Staefyn was capable of doing as he said. "Perhaps I meant for his enslavement to be a test, a test that he ultimately failed because he needed Taeron to rescue him."

"Taeron was doing his duty," argued Quynn.

Staefyn frowned. "Taeron is a slave to his duty. To his mother, to his father, to Shamara then Amyr and now to my father and Calabria."

Quynn did not respond when she did not understand his feelings towards Taeron. When he had believed Xuxa's lie that the emperor was his father, Staefyn had been resentful and knowing what she did now, Quynn could understand why he felt betrayed. He had been closer to Taeron than to any other person, so hearing from Xuxa that Taeron was the product of his father's infidelity must have shocked him. At least Quynn had been able to convince him otherwise. And when he had learned of his disinheritance in favor of Taeron, Staefyn had not seemed to care. She suspected that he was proud of the man his childhood friend had become.

"Will he sacrifice his own happiness for his duty?" wondered Staefyn aloud.

"Do you care about his happiness? I thought you only cared about yourself, that everything you have done is to ensure that you do not suffer."

"Nobody wants to suffer, Quynn."

"How do you think I will feel when you take my child?" She put her hand on her belly as if she could protect her baby.

Staefyn frowned at her. "I would not take your child."

"I heard you discussing it with that whore!" Quynn was furious that he would deny his plans.

"Of course you did," he snorted. "You spy as much as my sister, Chaela."

"How else am I to learn what is going on when you ignore me?"

Staefyn laughed softly and reached out to stroke her cheek. "I did not realize you were missing me."

She slapped his hand away. "You have not denied your plans for my child."

His hand dropped to his side. "I would not keep you from your daughter." He met her gaze and she saw that he was speaking in earnest. Whatever Xuxa had planned, Staefyn was not in agreement. Was he using his magic to convince her, or could she trust him?

Sighing she said, "You could have helped your people, and yet you choose to harm them."

"I must protect myself."

Staefyn would always think of himself first, proving that she could not trust him. If there were buses on Calabria, he would throw her under one in a heartbeat if it meant protecting himself.

"Who was that man you were speaking to?" she asked, changing the subject when she knew that she could not get through to him. "I have not seen him before."

"One of my men stationed at Edgeland Fortress." She was not surprised that he had a contact there. "My mother and Larya have gone to the fortress to meet Lady Trynity and her guests. Princess Cydeara has been imprisoned, but Dijana of Teralon is treated as an honored guest along with the Teralonian queen who has arrived with her mate and a squadron of warriors." He pursed his lips for a moment in thought and then said, "What are those females planning?"

After what she had witnessed through Jeshed's eyes, Quynn did not believe it had anything to do with Taeron since he appeared to be courting another woman. "I don't know what the Teralonians are doing, but I suppose my mother is collecting blood samples. She was disappointed when Queen Neria refused her request on her first visit to Calabria, so she is probably nagging her for blood." She met Staefyn's gaze. "She would be ecstatic to have a sample of yours."

Staefyn raised a brow. "Why would she wish to study my blood?"

Quynn shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand her or her studies although she spends many hours analyzing blood. You are Guerani and she has made comparisons between the blood of all the Guerani that she knows to see if there is any physical difference between them according to their level of power. She is very interested in changes to the body that allow one to use magic."

He glanced at the collar at her throat. Quynn had gotten very good at controlling her magic and her temper, so Staefyn had not had a reason to heal her for many days. "She has studied you?"

She nodded. "She would rather we return to our system so that she can scan my brain with the sophisticated equipment in the colonies, but that is not going to happen any time in the foreseeable future. My father will not leave the emperor and his duties, and my mother will not go without him." Her mother would not consider any prolonged separation from her husband after the many years that they had been parted. Quynn could not blame her for wanting to stay by the side of the man she loved.

Staefyn seemed to be thinking about what she had said, so Quynn decided to give him more to think about. "My mother has studied the plants extensively and made many medicines."

"I know of the medicines," he told her. "She has written of them. Her healing is not as efficient as mine."

Quynn doubted anybody's healing was as efficient as Staefyn's. "My mother has made medicines that she has not published and made available because your father forbids general use."

His brows drew together. "Why would my father forbid medicine to anyone? What are these medicines that so offend him?"

"They interfere with the physical debilitations caused by the mating bond," she told him and she watched his reaction.

Staefyn's frown deepened. "Is that how Taeron's bond with the Teralonian thrall was broken?"

"There is a sorceress on Norvana who can perform a spell to break the bond. She broke Amyr's." Quynn doubted Staefyn could afford the price that Carrinda would demand and wondered briefly what Taeron had done to get her to cooperate after how they had left Norvana. "She is a greedy bitch that cannot be trusted."

"Amyr is still bonded to you," scoffed Staefyn. "Her sorcery is weak."

Quynn smiled as she remembered the night he had bonded with her in the old way. Seeing Staefyn scowl she realized he had read her thoughts, but she did not care when the memory was so precious to her.

"Tell me of the medicine," he demanded. "Is that what keeps Amyr from losing his mind in your absence?"

"He told me that the growth of his powers was making the medicine unnecessary."

Staefyn was going to speak again, but his lips pressed together and Quynn heard footsteps approaching. Turning, she saw Xuxa step into the antechamber, but when the colored light fell upon her, it was not flattering. She glanced at Staefyn, and Quynn saw a brief look of disgust, but as Xuxa came closer, his gaze moved over the much older woman in such a way that Quynn doubted he would ever consider using any medicine that would interfere with his need for Xuxa.

"There you are." Xuxa's dark gaze rested briefly on Quynn, but she was not suspicious to find her with her young lover. She was confident in Staefyn's fidelity, had every reason to be when he looked at her as he did now, like a starving hound panting after raw meat.

She came to Staefyn and when she reached out to stroke his cheek, Quynn was revolted by the sight of her bony, thin hand against his tanned, firm flesh, her thumb brushing his full, lower lip.

"What did your spy at Edgeland report to you?" she asked huskily as she leaned into him.

If Quynn stayed much longer she was going to be physically sick. She had seen them together enough already and when Staefyn snagged the old woman around the waist and pulled her against him, she turned on her heel and hurried away. When she came into the corridor near her room, she came to an abrupt stop because the Varoonyan warlord was between her and her chamber. Quynn was nauseated by the sounds he made as he sucked blood from the neck of one of the female servants he had backed against the wall. His victim was moaning as loudly as Xuxa had been when Quynn left Staefyn behind. There was no way around him and retracing her steps would take her back to what she had fled.

The warlord must have sensed her presence because he lifted his head and speared Quynn with his crimson gaze. When he suddenly released the female and shoved her roughly away, Quynn braced herself for a confrontation as the female stumbled past her. Kai came to her then, but he stayed an arm's length away from her and she almost laughed at his ridiculous attempt to put distance between them because of his fear of her magic. Not only did the collar prevent her from blasting him as she wanted, but if she could use magic, the paltry distance he considered safe would not keep her from turning him into a pile of ashes.

"What have they done to my Dijana?" he demanded, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side. "I do not feel her presence, and yet my spies tell me that she is at the fortress."

Quynn shrugged. "Hey, I don't know what they did to her, but I doubt that Dijana is feeling too sad about you not creeping around in her dreams."

His face darkened with anger and he took a step towards her, but Quynn did not step back, knowing that if she did he might realize how little he had to fear from her. Now he was so close she could feel the heat from his body, smell the cloying scent that attracted females so that he could feed from them.

"I will take my Dijana back over the drained dead body of Taeron of Calabria."

"I have heard you boast of that several times now," Quynn sighed deeply and shook her head. "And yet here you are and he is at the imperial palace."

His hand suddenly seized her throat and he slammed her against the opposite wall. Quynn was dizzy from the force of his attack, and as he held her above the floor, she fought to breathe when he brought his face to hers. "The sorcerer is not nearby to protect you and heal you now."

Her stomach churned as he slid his tongue down the side of her face to the pulse racing at her neck just above where his hand held her captive. She was becoming weak from lack of air, her lungs were burning, but he suddenly released her and she fell to the floor at his feet. Quynn gasped for her breath as he stood over her and her throat was too raw to make any remark. Her neck was throbbing with fiery pain, so she realized that she must have lost control of her magic.

"When the sorcerer is dead, there will be no one to protect you." Kai turned on his heel and strode away.

That evening, Quynn remained in her room and was barely able to ask Vaedra to bring her some food. Her throat felt as if it were afire, and by the horrified look on Vaedra's face when her eyes lowered to Quynn's neck, the blistered flesh was not a pleasant sight. She ate very little of what Vaedra brought to her, and then she tried to sleep, but she could only manage short naps before the pain would awaken her. If she did not see Staefyn for several days again, her flesh might become irreparably damaged. She already had scarring left from the burns she had given herself during the trip from Teralon to Calabria. Staefyn had done what he could to heal her, but too much time had elapsed and there were patches of scar tissue beneath the collar. Imagining how hideous her flesh would be if she ever escaped this prison, Quynn wept until she fell into an exhausted sleep.

The gods must have had mercy on her because she dreamed of Amyr taking her in his arms between first and second sunrise, of kissing her until she was breathless, of brushing his lips against her throat as he pressed his body against hers. When he blew a cool, healing breath across her damaged flesh, she closed her eyes and cried out as her body shuddered with the pleasure he gave her.

When she opened her eyes, she was disappointed to find that she was at Guerani Palace and she was laying in Staefyn's embrace.

She was not ungrateful. "Thank you, Staefyn,"she whispered with a sigh. If she closed her eyes, she hoped he would allow her to see Amyr.

"I sensed your pain," he told her softly and he reached up to stroke her hair.

Quynn raised her head to look at him, seeing only the outline of his face in the light of the moon. "So you gave me a fantasy as you healed me?"

Staefyn laughed softly. "You did not seem to mind so much." He fell quiet for a moment and then he said, "When I left my mate, I put into practice what you suggested and used my powers to block her influence. You did not tell me that using my power takes away the physical pleasure." Quynn wondered how he had discovered the undesirable side affect. Did he try to seduce one of the few female servants left in the palace?

"I do not like it," announced Staefyn.

"Do you prefer her controlling you because you cannot resist her?"

He did not speak for a moment and then he said, "I have needed her too long to stop now."

"I know who would understand," she said as she raised herself to look at him in the dark. "Your father was bonded to your mother when they were children," she reminded him. "Surrender yourself to him, ask for his forgiveness and I know that he will help you!"

"You think my father will help me after everything I have done for Xuxa?" Staefyn shook his head vehemently. "What I have done, what I have allowed her to do, is unforgiveable! I know that; you know that, Quynn. Before this is over, I will probably do worse." He reached up to draw her head to his shoulder. "Close your eyes."

She obeyed because she was sleepy and after the concern that Kai had irreparably harmed her and the realization that he was losing his fear of her, she needed sleep so badly that she was drifting away before she felt Staefyn's power urging her to sleep.

He did not let her dream of Amyr.


	72. Chapter 72 A wife and an army

**Chapter 72**

She saw Staefyn sporadically in the next several days and she wondered where he spent his time when he was not annoying her or servicing Xuxa. Quynn was not sure if she preferred his presence or his absence although her baby was active when Staefyn was nearby. He assured her that the child was healthy and that the baby would be a headstrong female which did not surprise her. Nor was she surprised that her daughter had given Staefyn signs that she would be born with her powers as Shamara had been. She suspected that they communicated and it bothered Quynn that her unborn child had a rapport with her unbalanced uncle.

This morning she decided to do something about the garden. It had become overgrown because the woman that had taken care of it had not been around in many days so Quynn suspected she had either attracted Kai's attention or had the good sense to flee the palace. Kai's anger over losing control of Dijana had not abated, not with the females he abused, not with the raids he led in the wastelands. Without the Varoonyan thralls that Princess Cydeara had failed to bring him, Kai could not challenge the might of the empire.

After working in the garden, Quynn relaxed in her bath, and then she dressed in an elegant tunic and silky pants, noting to herself that she would soon need new clothing. Her belly had thickened and since she could feel the faint movements of the child now, she knew that Staefyn was nearby and Quynn had a sense of anticipation, as if something was going to happen to put an end to the stalemate between the emperor and his rebellious son. So when Vaedra reported that a messenger had arrived to announce the imminent arrival of important visitors from court, Quynn hurried to the antechamber to see them.

Quynn arrived before Staefyn and she did not see Kai which relieved her. Since her last encounter with him, she avoided him as often as possible. Xuxa entered the hall, dressed and coiffed like a queen, glittering with jewels, and as the visitors, several men and a woman, bowed in obeisance, Quynn studied them. She did not recognize the men, but she had seen the woman before when Staefyn had allowed her to see Amyr and Yori through Jeshed's eyes. Keilana of house Caron stood among the men, her gaze downcast, her hands clasped before her. Had Taeron married her? If so, what was she doing here? Had she been captured by these men and brought to Staefyn?

"You are welcome to Guerani Palace," Xuxa said, and she gestured for them to rise as she sat on one of the two chairs placed as if she reigned at Staefyn's side. "I knew your grandfather, Caron."

Given her behavior at Guerani Palace, Quynn suspected that Xuxa had known him very intimately.

"Lord Renaeld was our father. I am Aevan, and this is my brother Caerl, and my sister Keilana." He indicated another portly man standing nearby, his gaze shifting nervously around the room. "We are accompanied by Wyrad of house Chasek."

"I remember Renaeld well. He was a friend of my son, Dilan." Xuxa was smiling at some memory and Quynn saw the members of house Caron shift with the same disgust that Quynn felt.

The doors swung open and Staefyn strode in, his brows together as he viewed the visitors. "What are they doing here?" he asked tersely, sparing a contemptuous look at the house Chasek male.

Aevan of house Caron bowed deeply to him. "My lord prince, we have come to Guerani Palace to offer you our support."

Staefyn did not react although Xuxa's delighted cry told Quynn that this development did not bode well for the emperor.

"Why should you offer your support to me?" demanded Staefyn suspiciously. "Your warriors make up the bulk of my father's forces."

Aevan smiled. "You are well informed, my lord prince."

"I have known that since I was a child," scoffed Staefyn. "I trained alongside many of those warriors, even you, Aevan, if you can call what you did training."

Affronted by his insinuation, Aevon stiffened. "I came to offer you my support, but if you do not want it, I can turn my warriors against yours and drive them out of the plains before I turn them against the emperor."

Staefyn narrowed his gaze on the man, and Quynn could see that he was not intimidated by the threat although Xuxa moved anxiously and stared intently at Staefyn. "You have not told me why you have broken the oath of your house to serve the emperor," Staefyn reminded him. "I am not inclined to trust a house of lazy oath breakers."

The males glanced at each other as if they were unsure how to respond to his insulting question. Xuxa looked dismayed that Staefyn would offend the men who were offering him a mighty army.

Curling his lip in scorn, Staefyn turned to leave, but he seemed to notice the female for the first time. If she thought he could desire a female other than Xuxa, Quynn would conclude that he looked interested in Keilana.

Her brothers exchanged glances and then Caerl seized her elbow and drew her forward. "I present to you the female of our house, Keilana."

Staefyn did not take the hand she held out to him and she seemed disconcerted by his rudeness. "You are the female that was to wed Crown Prince Taeron. What brings you here, Lady Keilana?" Aevan took a breath to speak, but Staefyn made a swiping motion with his hand that silenced him. "She can tell me why Crown Prince Taeron rejected her."

Pink crept up to her pale cheeks and Quynn thought she would not speak, but then she said, "I am the only female of house Caron. My father offered me to the crown prince, and he negotiated the nuptial agreement with the emperor himself. But when the Teralonian whore arrived at our oath ceremony, that bastard ignored the agreement and exchanged vows with her."

Quynn pressed her lips together to keep from crying out with joy for her brother. She knew that Taeron loved Dijana! Dijana surely returned his love and that was why she came to Calabria, not to be with Kai.

Staefyn smirked at the female whose cheeks grew even brighter, from shame or anger or both. "Perhaps you should have tried harder to make him forget Princess Dijana."

She gasped, but her brother did not give her a chance to respond when he moved forward, shouldering her aside so that he could face Staefyn. "Crown Prince Taeron has shamed our house."

"So you have come to me with your army because Taeron rejected your female?" Staefyn stared at them silently and she wondered if he was trying to read their minds, and his gaze rested on Keilana again as if he could not look away.

They shifted nervously under his gaze and then Caerl blurted, "When my lord father protested, the emperor attacked him and killed him with his hands."

"Your father was no warlord," said Staefyn contemptuously. "I doubt my lord father would kill your sire for no reason other than your father's demand for justice, especially when your father was within his rights to protest."

The males did not answer, but Keilana suddenly raised her head and Quynn sensed a change in her as she scowled at Staefyn. "Does it matter, my lord prince? My father is dead, and the bastard, Taeron, rejected the warriors of house Caron when he rejected me." Keilana came closer to Staefyn and raised her chin to look him in the eye. "Do you want the warriors of house Caron or not?"

The female was beautiful in an ethereal way, and Quynn supposed that a male might be attracted to her. Even bonded as he was, Staefyn seemed to be intrigued by Keilana, and Xuxa did not seem to mind. Why would she when an army came with the house Caron female.

Staefyn suddenly pursed his lips, the first sign that his bond was affecting him, and when Xuxa signaled for him to attend her, he crossed to her and leaned close so that she could murmur something in his ear that initially seemed to annoy him. But when he had stepped away to return to Keilana, his face had become an unreadable mask as he looked down at the pale, dark haired female.

"Have you come here seeking another prince, Lady Keilana?"

She parted her lips to speak, and by the rebellious flare in her eyes, she had a scathing response ready that Quynn would have enjoyed hearing, but her brother seized her arm and she pressed her lips together although her nostrils quivered as she glared at Staefyn.

Staefyn watched her for a moment before looking at her brothers. "I presume that you will demand that I take your female. But I cannot bond with her."

His announcement caused a discussion among them before Keilana spoke up despite a warning look from Aevan. "Why would I accept a male who refuses to bond? What reason do you have to refuse?"

"I am Guerani," he told her, which was not a lie, but not the answer to their question.

Keilana responded before her brothers could make any demands. "If you must join with me without the bonding, I will agree. I will have to trust your oath."

Quynn wondered if Staefyn's oath could be trusted.

Without any further consultation with her brothers, Staefyn reached out to take the delicate hand of female. "I take you as my mate, Keilana of house Caron."

"I take you as my mate, Staefyn of house Trey." She came close to him, raising her face for a kiss, but Staefyn released her and stepped back. "Make yourself ready to receive me."

Staefyn glanced around the hall, probably looking for a servant and his eyes fell briefly on Quynn who was standing beside Vaedra. She saw the sardonic look in his eyes and she almost laughed, wondering what he was going to do with his new bride. Xuxa did not seem bothered by the arrival of another female, especially when it included males that she looked over as if she were deciding upon a mount in the marketplace.

"Vaedra, show my bride to a chamber."

"There will be no feast to celebrate?" she asked, the wavering of her voice now betraying her uneasiness at being rushed to the bed that she thought she would be sharing soon with a man she had just met. If she knew the truth, she wouldn't be so worried, but Quynn doubted anyone would enlighten her.

Staefyn slowly turned to look at her. "You have been dismissed, female. Do as I said."

Aevan reached out to seize her, but Staefyn's voice stopped him.

"If you touch my mate, I will cut off your hand." Quynn was surprised by his vehemence and Aevan fell back a step.

"Forgive me, my lord prince. I only meant to …"

"I don't give a gods' damn what you meant to do. She is my female now." He looked back at Keilana who was staring at him in surprise. "Go to your chamber now or you will wish it was the males of your house punishing you instead of your mate."

She met his gaze and Quynn waited in breathless anticipation for what she would say to him when it appeared that Keilana was ready to explode in fury, but after a moment of silent staring between her and Staefyn, she walked stiffly past him and Quynn was surprised to see Staefyn turn his head to watch her. She wasn't so surprised to see that he was perspiring and looked as if he had eaten something that had gone bad many days ago. Keilana should could herself lucky that she didn't have to witness him heaving because Staefyn seemed to have gotten that revolting symptom of his bond under control.

Xuxa moved forward, brushing against him as she approached the house Caron males, and her touch eased his discomfort. "Come with me, my lords. We have much to celebrate." She hooked her arms around those of Aevan and Caerl to lead them out, but she paused by Staefyn. "Be gentle with the female, my lord prince."

Staefyn did not respond and watched her leave with the other men before turning around to look at the other man who had arrived. "Wyrad, I am surprised to find you among the house Caron traitors. Our fathers are friends. Chasek fought for my father for many years."

"You are no less a traitor than Caron's grandsons," pointed out the red-faced man who mopped at his sweaty face with the sleeve of his tunic.

"I have the right to challenge my father," Staefyn pointed out. "Did your father finally cast your worthless backside out of his house? What did you do to earn his repudiation?"

"I did nothing! That bastard Taeron attacked me without provocation and I was blamed! Crown prince?" He spat on the floor and Quynn could see that Staefyn was irritated by the arrogant swine. "The emperor has made a grave mistake in giving Larya's mongrel whelp such honors. Somebody should have put that filthy whore in the Wastelands long before she spread her legs for that human miscreant."

"Hey," spoke of Quynn furiously. "That human miscreant is my father!" She took a step towards him, her fists clenched and ready to pound the pig senseless if she could land a blow on his slippery hide.

Staefyn seized her arm and drew her back, and he pursed his lips in annoyance at the faint scent of burning flesh. Quynn had not realized she had gotten so carried away, but now she felt calm from Staefyn's touch and when he leaned in to blow his cool breath over her neck, she relaxed in his grasp.

Wyrad harrumphed. "So it is true that you have taken your brother's mate as your concubine."

Staefyn did not allow Quynn to be outraged by his remark. He kept her temper in check with his power. "Why have you come here, Wyrad? Surely it was not just so you could insult my guest."

"I will give you my oath, Prince Staefyn, if you will vow to end that cur's life."

Staefyn stared at him blankly for a moment and then he said, "Your oath is no incentive to challenge Taeron. If you want him dead so badly, do it yourself."

The other man sputtered indignantly. "How am I to do that?"

"How indeed?" Quynn laughed outright at the amused look on Staefyn's face and Wyrad's complexion became an unhealthy dark purple.

Wyrad shook his fist at them although he was several safe paces away. "You dare to laugh at me?! I will have the last laugh!"

"I very much doubt it," snorted Staefyn derisively.

Spouting vile curses and threats of vengeance, Wyrad, formerly of house Chasek, stomped out. When the last words had died away with his departure, Quynn looked at Staefyn. "Was that wise? Could he be a threat?"

"To my pantry, perhaps."

Quynn did not laugh. "You should take him more seriously."

"I have known Wyrad for a long time, Quynn. He is a lazy fool whose resentment of his brother gave him a sharp tongue. He was in training with Taeron and me, and he hated Taeron for outshining him when he was trying to please his father. Eventually he stopped trying."

"I am surprised that my brother has not earned the enmity of more men for his accomplishments," remarked Quynn. "In the colonies he would have had scores of challengers trying to take him down a peg."

Staefyn looked surprised. "Why would they do such a thing? Do your people not value their strongest warriors? Wyrad's resentment is dishonorable. No one is more deserving of the honors that my father has given him than Taeron."

Quynn reached out to lay her hand on Staefyn's arm. "How can you do this, Staefyn? You don't want to challenge your father and you don't want to cross swords with Taeron."

He shook off her hand. "I have a bride that I must attend to."

Quynn watched Staefyn leave and then returned to her own chamber where she sat alone worrying about the future after the events of this day. Not only was the emperor going to be signifiantly weakened by the lose of the house Caron warriors, but Kai was going to be furious when he returned from his incursions on the plains to learn that Dijana had married Taeron. She had no way of knowing when that would be, but Quynn knew that Kai would pay her a visit.

That night when a sound in her room startled her awake, she almost screamed, fearing it was Kai, but a hand covered her mouth and she was relieved to recognize Staefyn's woodsy scent. When he took his hand away, she asked, "Shouldn't you be with your wife?"

"She believes that I am with her," he told her with a self-deprecating laugh. "I drugged her with one of Lady Trynity's potions and put her in a trance." He snorted. "Just like I did Taeron on Teralon."

"You are a prick!"

"I don't know what you mean by that, but I will take it as a compliment. I thought it quite clever."

"Don't you have to be with her for her to believe you are there?"

"I had but to give her a fantasy for her to believe she is experiencing it, and since it is her fantasy, I shall be a very good lover."

"More proof that you are a prick, Staefyn." Quynn frowned. "Should I be glad that you did not do that to me?"

He leaned close and breathed in her ear. "How do you know that I have not?"

She knew he was joking and she was annoyed to realized she was amused. How had she allowed herself to become friendly with this monster? "What will happen when she realizes that you are not touching her? How will she feel when she stumbles across you acting on your disgustingly base impulses for Xuxa? How do you think the males of her house will react?"

"Does it matter? They are liars and schemers, and they came to join their house with other liars and schemers. Do you think my father would beat the head of house Caron without good reason?"

"Did Keilana tell you the reason?"

"I pulled it out of Aevan and Caerl's thoughts when they were lying to my face." He fell silent for several moments and she was not surprised that her baby moved restlessly when Quynn sensed that he was troubled by what he had learned. "On the night that Amyr was born, house Caron attacked the palace after your father left to escort my father back so that he could be with my mother."

"I know," she told him. "I have heard the story of your mother's bravery."

"The story of my mother's bravery is only partially true. Renaeld was the only survivor of the force that had stormed the palace and he has never repudiated the account reported by your father."

"Did my father lie?"asked Quynn, finding it hard to believe given his many stern lectures about honor. "And if it was not true, why did Renaeld not challenge his telling of the event?" Quynn understood that Lady Arora's holding of the palace spelled the end of the rebellion. "Did Renaeld renounce your mother? Is that why your father killed him?"

Staefyn looked away towards the window and she could see his profile in the moonlight and she could feel him trembling with emotion. "Lord Renaeld boasted of what really happened that night before the imperial court. His father's warriors vanquished the palace guard and captured my mother. That bastard Renaeld raped my mother in front of his father so that Caron could completely shame her before taking her head."

Quynn gasped in shock and she reached out to touch Staefyn, but he shook off her comforting hand and she made a sound of disgust. "You said your mother should have died a whore's death in the Wastelands. Is this revelation vindication for you."

"Why should I feel vindicated by his heinous violence upon my mother?" Staefyn sounded furious and his body became rigid. "I wish I could have been there to see my father beat him to death." His fists were clenched at his side as he wrestled with his fury, and after a few moments he admitted, "I wish I could be there now to offer comfort to my mother."

"Staefyn." Tears sprang to Quynn's eyes. "If you love your mother so much, how could you shoot down her ship?"

"I was not at the palace that day." He told her. "I had to force my father's hand against Amyr, so I played my parents against each other and I was surprised by how easy it had been."

He sighed deeply. "Losing Amyr after there had been such rancor between them affected my father more than I realized. He blamed himself, and he blamed Quynn, and it was easy to transfer that blame onto Duo. I only wanted to plant the seed of doubt against my mother, but in my father's fertile mind it grew into a conspiracy."

"Xuxa's spies at the imperial palace reported of their arguments, that my mother was leaving for Dagmaeus, and Xuxa suggested destroying her shuttle, but I refused to give the order. I was so disgusted by what I had done to my parents, what I believed my father guilty of, that I left the palace. I needed the counsel of the ancestors. I was at the hot spring when I saw the explosion in the sky, I was stunned that Xuxa acted on her own and horrified to believe that my mother was dead. The ancestors calmed me with the knowledge that Xuxa had failed to her."

Staefyn turned to look at her. "I was angry when I saw Taeron at my father's side, believing that he was his bastard, and I spoke cruel words about my mother to hurt him, words I have regretted since uttering them. My mother has always been kind and gentle, and I do not deserve to call her mother after what I have done, what I have said."

Quynn wiped away her own tears. "What will you do now that you know the truth about house Caron?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"I have tied my house to theirs," he said with a sigh. "I have made an oath to Keilana. I may be a rotten bastard, but I am not an oath breaker."

"You would destroy your father?"

He laid back against the pillows, drawing her gently with him. "I don't have to destroy my father. In taking vengeance on house Caron, he has destroyed himself."

Quynn raised her head to look in his direction in the dark. "You have the power to stop this." She should push him away, but he gave her a strange sort of comfort so she put her head on his shoulder and sighed deeply. "I wish I had stayed on Colony L12 and married Chaz when he asked. I knew he didn't want to ask, that his mother forced him to do it, but I think we could have gotten along. At least the worst I would have had to deal with is his leaving clothing lying on the floor." Staefyn did not respond and then she raised her head to look at him in the dark, "Please, Staefyn, do not kill Amyr. I love him."

He made a sound of annoyance. "I cannot kill Amyr. The ancestors would never forgive me and I could not bear my life without hearing them. But I won't protect him either. If he insists on going into battle beside Taeron, he will get himself killed."

Quynn smiled as she thought of the swath of dead and dying that Taeron would leave in his wake. "He will be just fine beside Taeron."

"You believe your brother is protected with holy magics?" He had been reading her mind and she wondered if he made any effort or whether her thoughts were loud and clear to him.

"I don't believe it," said Quynn as she remembered him fighting on Teralon. "I know it."


	73. Chapter 73 Whatever females discuss

**Chapter 73**

When she awoke, Dijana stretched and reached for her husband and when her hand ran across the empty space beside her that felt cool to the touch, she made a sound of exasperation and sat up, frowning as she looked at the empty side of the bed as if her sight would find something different than her touch. Taeron was gone again! She had awakened in his arms only twice in the week that they had been married. If she had bonded with him, he would be beside her, where he should be instead of leaving her to face a new day alone.

The door opened and she pulled the bed covering to her chin to hide her naked body and was relieved to see that it was Chaela. "Where is my husband?" she heard herself demanding and she cringed at the shrewish sound of her voice.

Chaela smiled knowingly at her. "Did he not please you enough last night? Amyr said you sounded like a canyon beast in rutting season."

"I do not know what a canyon beast is, but I do know I heartily dislike your brother. Must he skulk around our chamber?" Dijana threw back the blanket and stalked to the bathing chamber with Chaela following carrying the drying cloth she had forgotten. As she stepped into the warm water, Dijana wished she was bathing with Taeron as they did on Norvana, but since the first morning after their wedding night, he had not joined her in the spacious bathing pool.

"My brother is Taeron's imperial guard. Has no one explained to you the intimate relationship with the imperial guard? At least Amyr does not sleep upon the mat at the foot of your bed."

Dijana paused in scrubbing herself to look at Chaela. "He could do that?" The thought of Amyr being in the room with them during their intimate moments made Dijana shudder with disgust. "I will not allow it."

"Don't worry. I overheard them discussing some sort of system to warn Amyr to stay away because Taeron does not want him disturbing your privacy."

She pursed her lips in annoyance before asking, "Was he in here last night?"

Chaela shrugged, but Dijana guessed by the smile she was trying to hide that Amyr had paid them a visit when they were distracted. Chaela did not answer as she gave Dijana the drying cloth when she exited the pool. Instead, she changed the subject. "Taeron has gone out to the city with his father to enlist warriors. My father hopes that seeing them will inspire men to rally to our cause."

"And Prince Amyr is riding with them?" Dijana knew it was too much to hope that she would not have to see Chaela's brother after his impertinent remarks about her intimate behavior with her own husband.

"Amyr is waiting for you." Chaela's announcement aggravated Dijana. "After his boorish remark this morning, Taeron told him it was time that he begin training you."

Dijana opened her mouth to say that she did not need training, that she had spent many hours with Guillem, but the possibility of catching Amyr off guard and retaliating for his rude behavior towards her was too tempting. "Am I to begin after first meal?"

While her father had gone to Edgeland Fortress to train with his men, Neria demanded that Dijana continue taking her morning meal with her as had been their custom on Teralon. The difference was that they were joined by the females remaining at the imperial palace. Dijana had become quite used to them at Edgeland Fortress, and since her appetite had returned and Lady Trynity was kind enough to find her palatable food, she enjoyed what had become a ritual imposed upon her by her overbearing mother.

"Amyr will come for you," Chaela told her.

"Then I shall take my time," said Dijana with a smile as she dressed in a tunic and leggings so that she could be ready to work with him. Her mother would not be pleased to see her wearing mannish clothing, had made a scathing remark about a similar garment that was elegant and feminine which Lady Trynity preferred to wear in place of the long skirted tunics, gowns or robes. Dijana had many such lovely garments thanks to Lady Larya and her army of seamstresses. She smiled now as she remembered the look on Lady Larya's face when she saw what had become of the gown Dijana had worn to exchange vows with Taeron. He did not seem to care about the enormous expense of the gossamer fabric that had been purchased from a frontier world or the work that his mother had put into sewing the gown with her own hands.

This morning Chaela escorted her to the emperor's private living quarters. "My mother is hosting the meal," she told her.

"She has come out of her trance?" Dijana did not quite understand trances, would not care to enter into another for the rest of her life although Taeron told her that he had done so frequently with Staefyn when they were children. Taeron spoke of those days matter of factly but she sensed that was feeling pain in anticipation of the likelihood of facing the brother of his heart in battle.

"Last night. I think my father was hungry. He said something about having the munchies, but I don't understand what he meant. Lord Duo thought he was funny and laughed quite loudly."

They had no more time to ponder the meaning because they entered the comfortable living space which had a table laden with food around which were placed padded chairs. The older women were already talking and picking at the food, most of which Dijana would shriek if she saw anywhere but on the platter on the table. Even seeing them there made her leery.

"Ah, the canyon beast has arrived!" The announcement by Lady Trynity made the other women laugh and Dijana blush.

"I thought you might sleep all morning," commented Lady Larya.

"She rose before equal distance," said Lady Arora. "Somebody should have a talk with Taeron."

The females laughed again and Dijana felt her cheeks growing even warmer.

Dijana went to Lady Arora. "I am sorry, my lady, that I did not have a chance to thank you for all that you did for us to be together."

Despite everything that had happened, the revelations that had turned the empire upside down, Lady Arora looked relaxed. "I was happy to help you and Taeron," she said with a smile. "Although I would have preferred a different ending..."

"I have noted that blood-letting follows Crown Prince Taeron," commented Dijana's mother with a sniff. "I am surprised that _he_ was not drenched in it."

An awkward silence followed her comment which Dijana wished she had not made, but it was broken when the emperor walked into the salon, his hair wet after coming from his bath. When he passed by his wife, he trailed his hand along her back which made her smile, but he sat beside Lady Trynity on a small sofa. "Miss Stryfe, I thank you for your tea. What would I do without your pharmaceuticals?"

"Suffer, Trey." She filled a cup of tea to hand to the smiling emperor. "Suffer."

"We would all suffer," remarked Larya. "I cannot imagine starting the day without this tea."

"Where is Apolo?" asked Arora.

"I have worn him out," said Larya unapologetically. "So I have left him where I want him should I have need of him again." She glanced at Dijana. "I shall have to instruct you so that you do not wake to an empty bed."

Taeron had told her of his mother's instructions and she felt her cheeks heat again as she imagined such lectures from her.

"By the gods, Larya, you are embarassing the female." But Trey was smiling over his cup of tea at the white-haired female.

"And you are embarrassing yourself by taking first meal with females," she said tartly.

"Just pretend I am not here," he said with a chuckle.

Dijana never would have imagined the emperor of the binary system as this man. He was far younger than she imagined, and while the death he gave Renaeld of house Caron was something she would have expected of the emperor whose warriors inspired fear throughout the system, this domesticated side to him surprised her. Chaela had told her that he was like any other man but Dijana had not believed her until now.

"As you wish, my lord," said Neria, and she promptly turned to Arora who was smiling as she sipped her tea, her eyes on her husband. "I know very little of Guerani trances, so I would very much like to know if a male has more sexual stamina during a trance or in the physical world."

Dijana gasped. "Mother!" She noticed that the emperor seemed disconcerted by her question, and he looked at his wife as if fearing her answer.

Lady Arora finished her tea and set down the cup. "My daughter may be able to answer that question. Shamara and Dagan's entire courtship took place within trances and I imagine they still spend many hours in them."

Princess Shamara choked on her tea and received a vigorous pat on the back by Chaela. "Well, sister, do answer the question for Queen Neria." Dijana noted that the emperor seemed relieved not to have his intimate prowess discussed.

Shamara cleared her throat. "Well, you do realize that Dagan is also Guerani, so our trances are different from those in which my father joins my mother. I have never had a reason to complain about my husband's stamina."

"That is my cue to leave." Trey grabbed a handful of food from the platter. "I would rather not listen to my daughter talk about her mate's stamina."

They waited until he disappeared into the corridor that led to the sleeping chambers, then the females looked back at Arora. She shrugged. "I will echo my daughter's answer. I have had no reason to complain about my husband, in or out of a trance."

"My mate pleases me well," announced Neria to Dijana's dismay. "The first time was difficult since he had never been with a female. The fool did not seem to know what to do, but I have since trained him to never leave me wanting and he has amazing stamina."

"Mother!" Dijana was appalled to hear her speak of her father.

Neria looked at her. "You must do the same with Crown Prince Taeron."

Dijana was flustered by their frank discussion. "Taeron pleases me well enough!" she blurted, hoping it would put an end to it.

"Well enough does not sound encouraging," said Larya with a sigh. "I shall have to speak to him. There are a few things I may have neglected to instruct him on."

Dijana knew that Taeron would not want his mother instructing him yet again about his intimate relations with her. "You misunderstood me."

They all turned their heads to look at her now with wide, curious gazes. Did all females discuss such personal details with one another or just this group? Her mother, Dijana had already learned, was preoccupied with the intimate aspects of her relationship with her own mate and with Dijana's with Taeron. Lady Larya, Taeron explained to her, did not understand the boundaries of privacy and found nothing amiss in speaking openly about intimate topics. Lady Trynity had the curiosity of a healer, and Lady Arora enjoyed their lively exchanges. On those rare occasions that she offered her opinion, it was done shyly. Princess Shamara tried not to become involved, but she never refused to participate while Chaela enjoyed goading her sister and Dijana.

"I meant to say that I am very pleased with my husband," Dijana said, steeling herself against the embarrassment of her admission. The women waited, and she wondered what more she could say to convince them so that Taeron's mother did not take it upon herself to offer him more advice. "I think he is more skilled at handling me than he is his sword."

That announcement made the women look at each other in surprise and Dijana was congratulating herself on silencing them when she heard Amyr's voice from over her shoulder. "I will be sure to tell him that when I see him this afternoon." Gasping, she turned to see him grinning down at her. "I am not sure if that will inspire him to practice harder with you or the sword."

When he slipped past her to reach his mother, she tried to kick him, but he avoided her foot, and kissed Lady Arora's cheeks before snatching up a few green beetles. "Mother, I have come to take Dijana away. Taeron has demanded that I give her some imperial training."

"I don't think she has eaten," said Lady Arora. "We have been embarrassing her."

"That should not be too difficult," he remarked with a glance at Dijana.

"You might be singing a different tune if Quynn were here," remarked Trynity.

Amyr frowned. "I do not sing. My voice is not as pleasant as Taeron's."

"I meant ..." Trynity rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

Amyr turned his attention back to his mother. "I would like to speak to you and Apolo later."

"Can your father be present or is this secret Guerani business?" His mother winked at him and Amyr chuckled.

"The business is not secret, but it does concern our powers." He glanced at Shamara and Dijana saw that he was frowning at his sister. She looked at Chaela and saw by the question in her eyes that the three, if not all four, were communicating in their minds.

"This is quite discomforting," remarked Dijana's mother. "Does this happen frequently, my dear Larya?"

"Until recently, Arora often communicated like this only with Apolo, and it bothered me at first until Apolo told me what they said and I preferred not to hear their mundane remarks. We agreed that if it was worth saying aloud that they would do so."

"A wise choice," said Trynity. "There were many conversations between Quynn and Stryfe that I would rather not have heard. Do you hear them, Arora, or must you make a conscious effort to do so?"

"It is the same difference between listening and hearing although listening does take more of an effort," Arora told her. "I suppose they will tell me later although I gather it has something to do with Yori."

"Such a lovely child," commented Neria. "He is far more obedient than I imagine that rascal Amyr was in his youth." She received a nod of confirmation from Lady Arora and then she looked at Dijana. "Of course, your daughter will be beautiful, judging form Larya's and Lady Trynity's daughters." She raised her head proudly. "I have bred beautiful daughters as well."

Dijana hoped her daughter looked nothing like Sharisse, so nothing like her mother. She did not dislike her mother, but Dijana had grown up with Sharisse so she would not be able to keep from comparing her daughter with the sister that had despised her.

Amyr reached for a fruit and he tossed it to Dijana who had difficulty catching it because his action surprised her. "Eat on the way to the training court unless you would rather stay here and continue to share their conversation."

She could not leave fast enough and as Chaela joined them, Dijana could hear her crunching on something that made her moan with pleasure. She wondered why the Teralonians seemed to enjoy those green beetles, but she was not going to put one in her mouth to satisfy her curiosity. Now Dijana inspected the oblong fruit Amyr had given her, and hoping that it was free of pests, she took a bite and was glad to see that it was.

"You are going to have to learn to eat what we eat," Amyr remarked. "Lady Trynity eats our food. She says it is very healthy."

"Lady Trynity has been here for several years now," Chaela pointed out, coming to Dijana's defense. "Give Dijana more time."

She heard footfalls behind her and Dijana glanced back to see that Guillem and Valter had landed. More often than not she did not see them which was probably on orders by her father. She smiled at them, but neither acknowledged her and she felt guilty that they must now be so formal with her.

They arrived at the practice yard which was a long stretch of short grass surrounded by high walls that she had to bend back to see the top. The yard was ringed with a balcony that was empty now.

"If the imperial courtiers were here, they might stop by to watch," Chaela explained to her. "Most of them knew when Taeron came to practice, so they would plan to come by to watch him."

Having seen him in action, Dijana knew why.

"When warriors first begin to train," Amyr told her, "they use the side walls to run up and spring off to meet their opponents in the air. This is usually done when they are children, and by the time they are ready to be tested by their masters, they can take to the air without using the walls."

"Taeron told me about something called gravity." Dijana had a fond memory of when he had, a memory that would be more pleasant had her father not interrupted them.

"That is Lady Trynity's explanation," said Aymr, cutting short the development of a fantasy that Dijana hoped could play out later in Taeron's arms. "I do not understand the half of what she says, especially about our fighting style. She said something about the suns and the two moons and the forces of them, and … well, as I said, I do not understand her." Amyr shrugged. "I don't think Taeron wants you running the walls."

"What does my husband want me to do?" asked Dijana, glancing at Guillem to see that he was watching with a perplexed frown. She wished she could tell him that she was not displeased with his training. She planned to put it to good use. Very good use.

"He needs for you to learn to protect yourself. I don't think he would be able to concentrate in battle if he worries about you. I will demonstrate some basic moves to avoid capture, and then I will attempt to capture you so that you can practice them."

The move he showed her she had already learned from Guillem on Teralon in the many days he had worked with her. Glancing at him now, she saw him roll his eyes and Dijana tried not to smile, even when she poorly executed the move which had Amyr patiently showing her again and again how to perform it. When she made mistakes, Guillem looked away with his lips pursed and Valter grunted as if disgusted with her. If Amyr noticed their strange behavior, he did not comment and he had been working with her so diligently that she felt guilty when the time came for her to drop the pretense and show him how much she really knew by easily slipping his attack and smacking his face so hard that blood gushed from his nose as she elbowed his gut. She would have kneed him sharply where he would have been seriously debilitated, but Amyr proved himself a worthy opponent by not only avoiding her, but by flipping over her and coming up behind her.

He caught her with an arm around her neck. "I doubt Staefyn would send an ill-trained buffoon to capture you. An imperial will anticipate you fighting him."

She could not wriggle out of his grasp and she saw Guillem and Valter move restlessly. "Are you calling yourself an ill-trained buffoon, my lord prince?"

He tightened his hold on her and she gasped. "Do you think I am?"

"Amyr," warned Chaela. "You are hurting her."

He _was_ hurting her, but Dijana refused to beg for quarter.

"You have been trained by a winged warrior to fight winged warriors," he said in her ear. "Taeron told me to train you to defend against imperials. There is a vast difference between them."

Amyr released her and when she stumbled, Guillem flew forward to catch her.

Amyr looked from Guillem to Valter. "My lord prince told me to train you two winged nursemaids as well."

"We are not nursemaids!" growled Valter furiously.

"She gave you the slip on Teralon like you are nursemaids," Amyr pointed out. He beckoned to them. "Try to keep me from your princess."

After only a few minutes, Amyr had proven that Guillem and Valter could not prevent an imperial from reaching Dijana. As Amyr worked with her guards, Chaela came to stand with Dijana. "Do not feel bad. Taeron spent many months training Amyr in a trance. He has not always been so skilled."

"Perhaps I should train in a trance as well." Dijana knew that time passed more slowly inside a trance so an afternoon in a trance might seem like several months.

"Taeron does not want you to train in a trance. I heard him discussing the possible ill effects it might have on the baby and they agreed not to do it."

Dijana put her hand on her belly. Now that she was not frequently sick, she sometimes forgot about her. She wondered if she should be training with Amyr at all.

"Don't worry, the babe is well," Chaela told her. "Amyr would not do anything to cause her any distress."

She heard a loud grunt and Dijana turned to see Amyr standing over both Guillem and Valter. "This is going to take a long time," she heard Amyr mutter.

Since he was not paying attention to her, Dijana sat on the ground with Chaela and took another bite of the fruit in her hand. Chaela offered her a beetle, but Dijana was not brave enough to try it even though Chaela told her it had been sweetened. She chewed on the fruit while watching her guards attempt to fight Amyr. At first they remained on the ground trying to attack him, and when Amyr went on the offensive and they tried to fly away, Amyr caught their wings before they could provide enough power to lift them from the ground. Now Dijana understood why the Calabrians had been so efficient in fighting the winged warriors. The wings actually slowed them so they were no match for the quick Calabrians with imperial training.

"I see that you are hard at work."

Delighted to hear his voice, Dijana turned to see Taeron watching her with a lazy smile that made her insides flip.

"Do you see the blood on Prince Amyr's tunic. I did that," she bragged.

"I hope that is not _your_ blood."

She threw what remained of her fruit at him, and he caught it and tossed it back for her to continue eating.

"Amyr!" called out Taeron, stopping him from dragging Valter to the ground yet again. "Do you mind if I borrow your trainee?"

"Which one? I have three."

"The wingless." Dijana was hurt to hear herself referred to as wingless even though she had several years to become accustomed to the loss of her wings. Seeing her father's wings reminded her of what she had lost, and while Taeron did not care if she had wings, Dijana often felt less than whole without them.

"Is she going to be bellowing like a canyon beast?" asked Amyr impertinently.

Gasping, she threw her fruit at Amyr, and he caught it to toss back as well.

"I think she will." Taeron scooped Dijana in his arms and he leaned down to press his lips to the pulse at her neck that was now racing. "I know she will."

Dijana put her arms around his neck as he carried her away from the practice yard where Chaela and Amyr were laughing. The last she saw of Guillem and Valter, they looked as though they were not sure if they should follow.

"Must you carry me?" she asked although she enjoyed being in his arms.

"I think it is faster and a little more dignified than racing through the corridors dragging you behind." He lowered his head to brush his lips against hers. "I was flattered to hear that you believe I handle you with more skill than my sword."

She felt her cheeks heating. "Who told you that?"

"Who did not?" He laughed when she frowned. "I had hoped to return to bed before you awoke, and when I saw that you were gone, I found the females enjoying their meal. I must have just missed you and hoped to catch you before Amyr started training, but they would not let me escape. By the gods, I have heard more than enough advice this morning on how to pleasure you." He grimaced and then he gave her a slow smile. "You would not mind if I put into practice what they told me?"

She raised her brows. "Some of it?" She could imagine how much their mothers had suggested.

"No, my lady wife, all of it."


	74. Chapter 74 Travel plans

**Chapter 74**

After spending the better part of the day with the winged nursemaids, Amyr was satisfied that at least they would not shame him, but they needed more work, especially if they hoped to stop imperial trained men of house Caron. He left them in the practice yard with Jeshed who had joined them after returning from a flight over the plains where house Caron was amassing its army. He had nothing good to report, so Amyr advised him to wait until later because he doubted Taeron would want his private moments with Dijana disturbed by the news that Warlord Kai's men were marching towards the house Caron encampment without making any formation for battle. There was little doubt that Aevan and Caerl had run straight to the Guerani Hills to find a legitimate head for their rebellion. Taeron might not have many more days with his bride before he must ride out at the head of the emperor's army, what little remained.

On his way to his father's residence, Amyr stopped by Taeron's chamber and when he did not hear anything, he slipped silently in to see that Taeron and Dijana were resting. Dijana was sleeping, but Taeron was too well trained to allow himself to sleep deeply no matter how exhausted he was. His dagger was in his hand before Amyr had taken a second step into the room, and seeing that the intruder was Amyr, he slipped the dagger back into whatever fold or crease in his mound of pillows from which he had taken it. The movement made Dijana stretch against him and she flung an arm across his chest, snorted softly and then began to snore. Amyr exchanged an amused smile with Taeron before he left them alone.

When he entered the emperor's residence, he saw that his father was slouched on the sofa, his booted feet upon the table around which the females had shared their meal that morning. As he snoozed with his head back, Amyr's mother was curled against him, and Amyr thought she was sleeping, but she raised her head, and when his father stirred, she stretched up, brushed her cheek against his and Amyr saw her lips moving, whispering something that made him relax.

She rose from the sofa. "Shall we find Apolo or have you sent for him?"

Amyr glanced at his father who did not wake although she was speaking aloud. "Does father approve of you bespelling him?"

Arora smiled at him. "I told him that I would and since he is still very tired, he was grateful for the help to stay asleep." She fell silent for a moment and then said, "Apolo is on his way. Are you hungry? There is food left from this morning."

Amyr followed her to the room where the family used to take the meals together and he saw the remains of the morning meal on the table, so he took a few slugs to pop in his mouth and as he ate he watched his mother go to the window to look out. For a moment neither of them spoke, and then she turned to look at him.

"I suppose you are wondering why I never told your father what happened that night."

"I understand why," he told her. What he could not fathom was how she had managed to keep her secret for so long. That she had told Larya did not surprise him since she was a woman who knew so many secrets and had probably suffered the horror of what had happened to his mother many times during her years as Xuxa's slave.

"Your father refuses to understand, and he certainly cannot imagine thanking me for saving his empire and our lives with my silence. For two days he would not speak to me in the trance, and when he did, he accused me of having no faith in him. We had a heated argument, and then he would not speak to me for two weeks." Amyr was not surprised that so much time had passed in their trance. He had kept Taeron in a trance for months that had only been days. He was surprised that his parents had been at such odds and was glad that he did not have to witness it.

"He was furious that I did not give him the chance to avenge my honor so many years ago. Apolo accused him of only wanted to avenge his own honor, of ignoring the repercussions of destroying house Caron when his rule was not yet stable. They had a terrible fight before he could convince him that what I did was for the best."

"My jaw still hurts." Apolo had entered the room and he was rubbing his jaw. "But I got my point across."

"We have come to an understanding whereby he does not forgive me for not telling him what Renaeld did and allowing him to pardon him when his crimes were too heinous to be forgiven, and I do not forgive him for refusing to understand my reasons."

Apolo laughed as Amyr frowned as he wondered what had been accomplished. "Do not think about it too long, Amyr. They have managed to find some peace after much shouting and many tears. They have agreed never to speak of it again."

"Now, what did you wish to speak to us about?" asked Arora as she went to her brother and he put his arm around her shoulders. "Has it something to do with Yori?"

"Shamara suggested that we use Yori to slip past Staefyn's wards," said Apolo before Amyr could tell them his plan. Amyr would have to remind to his sister later about what they had agreed upon, that he would ask Arora and Apolo for their opinion on using Yori to contact Quynn.

His mother raised her brows. "Is this what you want to do Amyr? I cannot believe that you would risk your child when we have no way of knowing how powerful Staefyn has gotten. And since he has been able to lock us out of Guerani Palace, we can only conclude that Staefyn has spent many years honing his skills in the sacred hills."

"Staefyn has developed powers that equal our father's," agreed Apolo. "Dax was able to hide what he was for many years even while using his abilities, just as Staefyn has done."

"Dax had Camridaeus inside him, guiding the evil that he did," pointed out Arora. Even after so many years she wanted to believe better of her father.

"Is the evil guiding Staefyn any less vile?" asked Amyr. "I did not know Lady Xuxa, but what she has done to Staefyn is unforgivable."

"Even less forgivable than what Dax did to Arora and Trey," said Apolo. "We know the lengths that a bonded mate will go to for his female just as well as Xuxa." He glanced at his sister. "We all know."

Amyr knew he was referring to his father challenging Emperor Zeno when he had only just come of age and had lost control of his urges to have his mother to whom he had been bonded as a child. "I do not like Shamara's suggestion, but she believes that if we have a chance to speak to Staefyn, he may stop this madness."

"Do you think Quynn has not tried to speak to him?" asked his mother. "If she is anything like her mother, she has and yet she has not swayed him."

"As Apolo said, we know the lengths that a bonded mate will go to for even a female like Xuxa." Amyr shuddered as he recalled the vision of the old and haggard female in Taeron's memories.

"Xuxa was a beautiful woman," Apolo told him, reading his thoughts. "She has been living in Guerani Palace for the better part of five years. Staefyn has probably treated her like a queen and if he does her bidding, she has used her considerable skill to keep him satisfied."

His mother's face screwed up in disgust as she thought about her son obsessed with the much older woman. Then she said, "I would not agree to what Shamara suggests, but Staefyn must understand that despite everything he has done, we understand why and want to help him."

Amyr looked from his mother to Apolo. "You have already discussed this."

"With your father as well," said Apolo. "He insists that the decision be yours, Amyr. Yori is your son, and he could be in danger. And for what? Do we really know Staefyn, who he has become?"

"He could have killed Taeron when Xuxa demanded it," Amyr pointed out. "There must be some good left in him." Not so very long ago he would not believe that Staefyn was anything more than a monster.

Apolo and Arora exchanged glances and then his mother came to him to put her hands on his shoulders. "We all want to believe there is some good left in him, Amyr, but how do we know there was good in him at all? He hid who he really was from us for many years."

"Not from all of us. Staefyn had never hidden himself from Taeron. Taeron loved him. Taeron loves him still and believes he can save him." And not so very long ago Amyr would have dismissed Taeron, but now he valued him as the brother of his heart.

Apolo shook his head. "Taeron's heart is pure, Amyr. I don't think he can fathom the evil in the depths of some men's souls. When you unlocked his memories, Taeron conveniently forgot how Staefyn sent his ship towards the frontier where he would have been enslaved if the ship from Norvana had not found his disabled shuttle before frontier slave traders."

"Knowing Taeron, he has probably found some way to justify Staefyn's actions," sighed Arora. "I wonder if unlocking his memories has done more harm than good."

"We would not send Yori alone; I do not trust Staefyn that much. I would go with him," Amyr told them. "I am bonded to Quynn and I can bring her into the trance."

"This is not an excuse to be with your mate, is it?" asked his mother, fixing him with a stern gaze.

Amyr did not look away. "I would be lying if I said I did not want to be with her."

"At least you have learned that you cannot lie to me and get away with it," said his mother. She glanced at Apolo who nodded before she turned back to Amyr. "I do not know how we can help, but we can try. If we add our powers to the trance, it will increase the odds of success."

After discussing what they would do, Amyr left to speak to Taeron as his mother and her brother went to find Shamara and Chaela so that they could be together when Amyr left with Yori in a trance. Since he had spent the rest of the afternoon with his mother and Apolo, Amyr doubted Taeron was still abed with his bride, being that he was not bonded. And when he entered Taeron's chamber and saw the bed empty, he was going to leave to look for him, but he heard a soft laugh from the bathing chamber. So he stepped inside to see Taeron in the pool, Dijana straddling him as she faced him, running her soapy hands over his chest.

"I thought you were not bonded," he said by way of announcing his arrival.

Dijana shrieked in indignation and as she scrambled off Taeron and out of the pool, she slipped once onto her backside before she managed to wrap a drying cloth around her. Amyr laughed and he could see that Taeron was trying not to join him.

She spun to glare at her husband, sobering him instantly. "My lord! I must insist that this oaf not interrupt our private moments."

"From what I have seen, all your moments are private," said Amyr with a chuckle.

She looked about for something, presumably to throw at him, and seeing nothing useful, she stomped towards the door. When she came near him, she slipped and would have fallen had he not caught her around the waist, but he did not hold her longer than it took to make sure she would not crack her head if she fell. Instead of thanking him, she made a sound of outrage, shoved him away and stalked back to the bedchamber.

Taeron left the pool and began to dry himself. "You must have a reason for intruding since we have agreed that you would not."

"I came to tell you that I hope to see Quynn tonight. Yori will breach Staefyn's wards and we will meet my mate in a trance. My mother and Apolo do not think it is a good idea ..."

"Nor do I, but I understand why you want to try." He wrapped the drying cloth around his waist as he came to stand by Amyr.

Amyr put his hand on Taeron's arm. "Is there anything you want me to tell Staefyn, should I have the chance?"

Taeron met his gaze. "If I want to speak to Staefyn, I will do so with my own tongue with my own words."

There was no rancor in his voice and Amyr could not sense any in his friend. Then again, Taeron had become difficult to read since his memories had been unlocked and Amyr suspected that Staefyn taught him to guard his thoughts and feelings. Amyr was saddened by Taeron's withdrawal from him, and after all they had gone through together, he could not help feeling regret.

"And if you do not have a chance before you meet him on a battlefield?"

"Then I will speak to him with my blades without any words," Taeron told him.

Since Taeron had nothing more to say, Amyr exited through the servant's entrance to the bath, better to keep from seeing Dijana because he suspected she was waiting in the bedchamber with a projectile. When he heard the clanking of a pot and Taeron's muffled curse, Amyr chuckled and left them behind wondering if he would punish her for hitting him. They might not leave their chamber until the following day.

He went to his own where he found Yori sitting with Jeshed on the bed, a scroll spread out between them as they tried to decipher the symbols.

"Where is Stryfe?" he asked, knowing that Quynn's brother had taken up the task of teaching them to read.

"Grandpapa needs him for work," Yori told him.

"They are recording the houses who have allied with the emperor and the number of warriors they have pledged," Jeshed explained. "There are many, but I doubt there are enough to challenge the immense army gathered in the Wastelands."

"It does not matter how many men face my grandfather," Yori announced. "The gods favor him."

Amyr smiled at his son. "Do the gods speak to you, Yori?"

"I read the stories in the archives," Yori told him. "His victory over Dax the Demon brought the rains to the Wastelands."

He could not argue with the legends found in the archives.

Amyr went to the window overlooking the garden, and sitting on the bench, he wondered how he would go about asking Yori to help him contact Quynn. Yori came to him, and when Amyr pulled him onto his lap, his son spoke before Amyr even knew what to say.

"Papa, are we going to visit mama tonight?"

Although Amyr had not told Yori his plans, he was not surprised that his son had discerned them. "Do you want to visit your mother?"

"Mama came to visit us," Yori told him. When Amyr started in surprise, Yori explained. "I saw her in Jeshed's eyes. Ten days ago."

Staefyn had brought Quynn to the palace to see them? If he had done so, then perhaps he would speak to them, listen to reason.

Before they could discuss her visit, Apolo and Arora came into the room with Shamara and Chaela.

Jeshed rolled up the scroll and stood. "Are you sure that you wish to do what you are planning?"

"Is there anything you can do to help?" asked Shamara curiously.

Chaela went to Jeshed and took his arm. "No. So he is going to leave. He might distract Yori."

Since Chaela rarely spent any time in Jeshed's company, Amyr was amused to watch as Jeshed was struck dumb by her touch, and before he could react, she had shoved him out and closed the door. She rubbed her hands on the skirt of her gown and turned back around.

"I hope Jeshed does not consider that a mating preamble," remarked Apolo.

Her mother hummed in agreement. "I was feeling some very strong emotion coming from him."

Chaela huffed. "I have given him no cause to believe there is anything but friendship between us." She frowned at Amyr. "Have you encouraged him?" Then she gasped. "By the gods! Lady Larya has been instructing him!"

"He has spoken to Larya about you," Apolo said, "but she told him to stop ogling you and not bother you with his unwanted attentions."

"Good! I am not attracted to him."

"I think you protest too much," remarked Shamara slyly.

When Chaela glared at Shamara, Yori giggled and Amyr chuckled as he swung his son up to carry him to the bed. "Let's go visit your mother, Yori."

"Are they coming too?" he asked.

His mother combed her fingers through Yori's hair. "No, Yori, I will wait here for you to return, and then you can tell me about your visit." Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to his forehead, then reached out to touch Amyr, to convey her concern before she stepped back to join her brother.

"Don't make Staefyn angry," warned Shamara.

Amyr frowned at her. "What makes you think I will make him angry?"

"Because you always did when you were children and I doubt you can see him as anything other than your annoying brother."

"I think he has evolved from annoying to dangerous," he pointed out.

"Then you have a good reason to guard your tongue."

He felt a tug on his sleeve and he turned to Yori. "Should we go now, papa?"

Before reaching for Yori's hand, he glanced at the worried faces around him. They appeared to have varying degrees of concern, but he saw encouragement from his mother, so he took his son's small hand and laced his fingers with his.

He had scarcely finished before the room started spinning, and he was sucked away so quickly from the people around the bed that he felt disoriented. Amyr had entered trances with Yori on Norvana, but none had begun with this vortex, pushing and pulling as if he were caught in a storm. The hand that anchored him, Yori's, released him and he tried to catch it, but his hand grabbed at air and Amyr felt anxious, not for himself as he was buffeted in a storm, but for Yori. For several moments there was only darkness, and then he saw lights swirling, only adding to his disorientation. As he tried to center his being, to regain control, he could scarcely keep from panicking. He could hear his mother and Apolo, their voices coming from far away, and while he had some sensation that they were touching him, he could not respond, could not return to them.

And then he heard Quynn's voice and she sounded both angry and terrified. "Release him, Staefyn! Gods, please let him go!"

"Papa!" Amyr heard Yori's frightened cry, but he could not respond and he knew that he was caught between worlds, that Staefyn had done this to him.

Suddenly he fell and his teeth rattled as his face smacked into a smooth surface. Unable to move, his body felt as if it had been shredded and his thoughts were scrambled, from what he had experienced, from the pain. Suddenly an ice cold wave crashed over him and he gulped in a breath as his body exploded in the pleasure of the strongest healing magic he had ever experienced.

"Amyr!" His body was weak, his vision fuzzy and his thoughts were jumbled, but Amyr recognized the embrace into which he had been pulled and the scent that could only be his mate. "By the gods, Staefyn, you are a bastard!"

"You should not speak like that in front of your son."

Amyr's vision was coming into focus and he saw the man towering over him. For a moment he had difficulty believing that he was Staefyn because he looked so much like a younger version of his father that he was afraid Yori had taken him to the past.

But the man who stood over him staring down at him with glowing golden eyes was not his father, and this was not the past.

"Welcome to Guerani Palace, brother," said Staefyn with an unwelcoming twist to his lips.


	75. Chapter 75 Visit to Guerani Palace

**Chapter 75**

Amyr did not have a chance to respond, was not even sure he could speak, before Quynn made an exasperated sound. "Amyr! What are you doing here? And why is Yori here? Don't you realize how dangerous this place is?"

Did she think she was in any less danger?

Staefyn was looking at him with contempt, but Yori suddenly went to stand next to him and he reached out to tug on the sleeve of the loose shirt Staefyn was wearing. Where was his tunic? Amyr glanced around and his eyes fell on a bed that looked disheveled, the tunic discarded at its side and he turned to narrow his gaze on his brother who did not pay him any attention.

"If you are my father's brother, then you are my uncle, like Stryfe and Jeshed and Taeron." Yori looked up at Staefyn with an innocent smile. "Are you my uncle?"

The child's lack of guile seemed to confuse Staefyn and it seemed as if he had to work at easing the look of disdain from his face. "I am," he managed to say although the two words sounded forced.

Although he had learned not to touch the hands of others, Yori seized Staefyn's hand, and he suddenly stiffened, the smile frozen on his lips, and Amyr held his breath, wondering what he was feeling. Then Yori giggled. "You are very powerful, uncle."

Amyr saw that Staefyn had a similar reaction to Yori's touch. "As are you, nephew."

"I am Yori."

"And I am Staefyn. Why did you come here, Yori?" asked Staefyn with a disgusted glance in Amyr's direction.

"I wanted to see my mama, but I was afraid to ask papa, so I waited for him to ask me." Amyr was glad that Yori was better behaved than he had ever been or he would have come to Guerani Palace on his own.

Quynn released Amyr and held out her arms to Yori who yanked his hand away from Staefyn and rushed to her embrace.

Staefyn went to Amyr and grasping a handful of his tunic, he hauled him to his feet. "You are coming with me!"

"I am staying with my wife and son." Amyr shoved him back, but before he could take a step towards Quynn and Yori, they were surrounded by a bluish white glow and he knew he would be unable to touch them. Quynn gave Staefyn an irritated look before she turned her attention back to her son.

Staefyn smiled smugly at Amyr. "Now you have no reason to stay, brother."

The protection spell would keep them out of danger, and since Quynn was preoccupied with her son, touching his face, kissing his cheeks, running her fingers through his hair, Amyr had little choice but to accompany Staefyn when there was nothing he could do to breach his powerful spell.

"Are you putting me in a dungeon?"

"Dungeon?" He raised a brow. "What do you think this place is? Apolo designed this as a place of peace where mother could commune with the ancestors and father could escape the demands of imperial nobility. Edgeland Fortress is close enough to take any prisoners deserving of incarceration, so there is no dungeon here."

"You haven't given father a chance to use the palace," Amyr pointed out.

Staefyn's lips curved into a smile, but he did not respond as he turned and walked to the door. Amyr gave Quynn one last glance before he followed Staefyn from the room. The corridors were empty as Amyr would expect from a trance, and their boots echoed eerily as they walked without speaking.

His brother stopped before a door and when he opened it, Amyr tried to go past him but Staefyn stopped him. "I have taken a wife."

"You married that old whore?" Amyr was disgusted that Staefyn would elevate that woman's status.

Staefyn's gaze narrowed as he drew his brows together. "You speak of my mate."

"I speak of a female predator that took advantage of you." Amyr would have put his hand on his arm, to move closer to him so that he could advise him as a brother, but he was afraid of Staefyn's power. "You do not have to live the rest of your life under that creature's control."

Staefyn swept Amyr with a contemptuous look. "Quynn has already told me of the remedies devised by her mother. Do you think I want to live the life of a half-man?"

"How can you want to be with Xuxa?"

His brother smirked. "I doubt there is a female more skilled than Xuxa to give a male pleasure. Should I give that up for a life devoid of any pleasure?"

As he tried to think of an argument, Amyr glanced in the room to see a pale form on the bed, long dark hair spread on the pillows. Her thin body undulated and he heard her moan.

"My wife, Keilana of house Caron."

Amyr looked away from her to Staefyn who closed the door. "Jeshed told me that your warlord's army is coming together with the imperial warriors of house Caron. This is the reason? You have taken Taeron's leavings?"

He expected Staefyn to become angry at Amyr's reference to Taeron, but Staefyn snorted. "She came to me pure."

"And she will leave you pure," said Amyr with disgust. "What is she doing in this trance?"

"My wife is enjoying a conjugal visit from her husband," said Staefyn with a chuckle. "I have paid her several already."

"Yet you were with my wife," accused Amyr, clenching his fists at his side. He wanted to beat the smirk off his brother's face.

"I often sleep with your mate," said Staefyn. "Even when she does not realize I am there."

Amyr could not refrain from springing at Staefyn and he was able to land a blow to his jaw that cut his lip against his teeth. Staefyn retaliated by drawing a sword and when he lunged at him, a sword materialized in Amyr's hand to parry.

Staefyn sprang back, and he reached up to wipe his lip with the back of his hand as he glared at Amyr. "I thought you might have come here to try to convince me not to crush father's army, but I see you have come here to kill me."

Remaining in a defensive position although Staefyn did not look as though he would attack, Amyr said, "If we wanted you dead we would send Taeron."

"Yes, Taeron would probably be able to kill me." Staefyn sheathed his sword. "Is he pleased with his mate?"

"His wife," Amyr corrected him. "Dijana would not allow him to bond with her."

For a moment Staefyn did not say anything, but Amyr read the anger and resentment that rolled off him until his brother managed to regain control of his feelings. Amyr decided to twist the blade a little more. "She carries his child, a daughter."

As he suspected, he felt the pain that assailed Staefyn at the prospect of never seeing a female swell with his own child. Those feelings took longer for Staefyn to shrug off, and when he looked at Amyr, he saw disgust.

"You always knew exactly how to hurt me and Taeron. It sickens me to know that you are his imperial guard, that he will turn to you for counsel."

"That was your choice," Amyr reminded him and he was gratified by Staefyn's flinch.

But the gratification did not last long because Staefyn suddenly lunged at him and Amyr threw up his hands to protect himself, not realizing that it was what Staefyn wanted. He seized Amyr's hands and slammed him back against the wall. The power that flowed from him immobilized Amyr and he scarcely had the strength to draw in a breath.

Staefyn brought his face close to Amyr's, and when he met his gaze, his brother's green eyes glowed fiercely golden.

"No!" Amyr managed to croak as he was forced to stare into his eyes. This was the last thing Taeron saw before Staefyn bricked away his memories. Amyr was terrified that he would take away Quynn and Yori and the daughter whose fragile life he sensed so briefly within Quynn.

"Goodbye, Amyr."

Then Amyr felt as if his head had been shoved under water. He could not breathe, he could barely manage a coherent thought, and then he was spinning out of control, images of the people he loved being sucked away. Amyr tried desperately to reach out, to grab them, to hold them close.

Suddenly hands were grasping him, tearing at him, and he heard his name shouted just before it felt as if his head exploded. His eyes snapped open and he realized that he was in his bed. The hands of his Guerani family were on him and he could see by the panic on their faces that they had been as terrified as he had been. His face was numb as if it had been hit with a brick, and he turned his head to see Taeron shaking out his hand.

"By the gods, did you hit me?" He could barely speak and when he felt a healing touch, he turned to see that Apolo was healing him.

Amyr reached up to touch his own cheek, moved his jaw around and then he realized that everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. Then Amyr realized that he had used the hand with which he had been holding Yori as he lay on the bed. Spinning quickly, he saw that the place beside him was empty.

"Where … where is Yori?" he nearly shouted in panic.

They did not answer and Amyr spun to look at his mother.

"He disappeared," she told him. "Shortly before we realized Staefyn must be attacking you, he just dissolved before our eyes."

"We tried to catch him," Shamara told him sadly. "But Staefyn's magic is too powerful."

The emptiness he felt inside, not knowing what had become of Yori, that he had caused it almost made him shriek with despair. His mother took his hands and she managed to bring him back from the edge of madness.

And then he was suddenly looking into Staefyn's eyes again and he would have sagged to the floor with relief had Staefyn not held him against the wall. "You are still an arrogant bastard that needs Taeron to save him and mother to soothe his aches."

Amyr's heart was still racing, his body trembling. "Where is Yori?" Was this real?

"He is with his mother where we left him." Staefyn released him and Amyr was barely able to lock his knees to keep from falling to the floor. "You should not have used your child in your selfish scheme to be with your mate."

Amyr shook his head. "I did not come here for her."

"You are lying"

"I came here to speak to you, Staefyn. Do you think mother would let me do this so I could be with Quynn?"

Staefyn stared at him for a moment without speaking, and then he said, "I have learned what happened to Lord Renaeld and why."

"And you still married his daughter," said Amyr furiously. "Why do you hate mother so? And how can you believe the lies Xuxa has told you?"

"I no longer believe anything she has told me," said Staefyn, his face expressionless. "But I have gone too far to be able to turn back."

"It is never too late to turn back," Amyr told him earnestly.

Staefyn shook his head. "My actions have caused too much pain and suffering. I will continue forward and trust the will of the gods." He nodded in the direction they had come. "We will return to your family, and when you leave, you will tell mother and father that I will do what I must do."

With a heavy heart, Amyr followed Staefyn back to the chamber where they had left Quynn and Yori. They had gone from the floor to the bed where Quynn sat with Yori, his small head pressed against her belly, a smile on his lips. When he saw Amyr, Yori smiled and waved.

"Papa, my sister is happy to meet me."

Amyr glanced at Staefyn and saw that there was a genuine smile on his lips. He should not have goaded him as he had. Amy should have remembered Shamara's warning.

"Come with me, Yori. Your father can meet your sister as I show you the palace."

Before leaving, Yori kissed his mother's cheek and she gave Amyr a fearful look as Yori hurried across the room to take Staefyn's hand. Staefyn looked at her. "Do not be afraid, Quynn. I cannot harm Yori. I would not." With those words, he turned and left with her son.

Quynn watched the door and Amyr could feel that she was anxious, but then she held out her arms to him and he nearly tripped over his own feet to reach her. He held her against him for several moments, savoring how she felt in his arms even in this strange world, But she moved restlessly against him, and when he felt her digging under his tunic and heard her breathy sighs, Amyr hoped Staefyn kept Yori busy for a long time.

Later as she held him to her, his cheek pillowed on her breast, he laid his hand on her rounded belly and felt their child move as she greeted him with barely perceptible stirrings of joy. Closing his eyes, he saw her, their daughter, a little girl with tangled copper curls and Guerani golden eyes. She was ducking in and out of flowered shrubbery, giggling as she tried to hide.

Amyr sighed as the vision dissolved, and he raised his head to look at his mate. "We should not have done this."

She stretched her naked body against his. "No, Amyr, we should do it again." Quynn laughed, and taking his head between her hands, she tilted his face up for her kiss. When she let him breathe again, she asked, "How long will you stay?"

"As long as Staefyn lets me." Amyr doubted Staefyn would give him much longer to be with his wife. "Does he treat you well?"

"He does," she admitted, albeit reluctantly. "You don't need to be jealous of him. He is like a brother, a very aggravating brother. At first he seemed to want more, but his bond prevented him and now I think he is more interested in nurturing our unborn child."

Amyr sighed deeply. "I should be grateful to him."

Quynn grimaced. "When he is here, he protects me well enough, but he is more often than not away."

"He is often gone from the palace?" Amyr wondered if there would be a way to capture him during his forays in the hills.

"He says he is communing with the ancestors, that he can hear them speaking to him on the winds."

"We can all hear them," Amyr told her. When she started in surprise he explained, "We can hear them faintly at Edgeland Fortress, but Shamara, my mother and Apolo say that the voices are loudest in the sacred hills. They say that the voices are comforting, that they teach."

"Then Staefyn attends a lot of their lectures."

If they were teaching him, then it explained his power. Dax had spent the first twelve years of his life in the Guerani Hills before the imperials hunted down his people. In the years that Camridaeus had walked the hills to kill any survivors, Amyr wondered if Dax had learned from the ancestors to gain his strength. Did they try to help Dax overcome the monster? Did they try to help Staefyn now?

Amyr did not want to waste the time he was given with his wife wondering about Staefyn, so he gave his full attention to Quynn because he did not know how much longer Staefyn would allow him to remain.

When the first sun rose and Yori had not returned, Quynn began to fret about his absence, so they left the bedchamber to search for Staefyn and their son. They went through several empty rooms and then Quynn suggested they try the garden because she had seen Staefyn there many times. As she suspected,they were there, Yori seated on Staefyn's lap. When Amyr saw the blank stares, he realized that their hands were joined.

"A trance in a trance?" Quynn was as perplexed as Amyr.

Her voice stirred Yori and he released Staefyn's hands and hopped off his lap to go to his mother. "We must return soon."

Amyr looked at Staefyn who rose from the stone bench on which he had been sitting. "Listening to the ancestors?" he asked with a raised brow.

"You should listen to them," suggested Staefyn. "They have much to teach."

"Did they teach you to challenge your father? To cause the death of your mother?" demanded Amyr. "Did they instruct you on how to imprison your brother in a trance or how to betray the brother of your heart?"

"This is my trance, Amyr, not yours, not Yori's." Before Amyr could do little more than seize Yori's hand, Staefyn ended his trance and Amyr felt as if he were falling until hands seized him to pull him from the endless void.

When he opened his eyes, he quickly turned to see Yori beside him also opening his eyes, their hands still joined. Then Amyr turned to see the faces of his Guerani family. They bore expressions ranging from relief to hope, the latter belonging to his mother. He did not want to disappoint her, but he knew that he must.

"You were not gone long," remarked Shamara.

"A few moments," agreed Chaela.

"I was there for several hours," he told them.

"I saw my uncle Staefyn," announced Yori with more exuberance than Amyr felt. "He took me to visit the ancestors."

Apolo raised his brows. "You visited the ancestors?"

"We were in Staefyn's trance," Amyr explained. "I don't know how he did it, but he took Yori into another trance where they contacted the ancestors."

"Where were you when he was visiting the ancestors?" asked Shamara.

"Visiting his mate." His mother was looking at him with annoyance and Amyr looked away. "Did you speak to him at all, Amyr?"

"We argued," he admitted. "His power is incredible." He shuddered as he recalled the vision Staefyn had given him. Causing Yori harm by taking him away in the trance was Amyr's worst fear and Staefyn had learned of it and used it against him. He had deserved it for the cruel words he had spoken to him. Amyr knew he had a long way to go in overcoming the selfishness of his youth.

"Were you able to convince him of anything other than the fact you are still a canyon beast's backside?" asked Chaela. When he did not answer, she made a sound of disgust. "We should have sent someone else. All he did was bed his mate and anger Staefyn."

Amyr would have argued if he had anything to argue about. Chaela had summed up the trance succinctly. So he told them what he had managed to discuss with Staefyn and his response to their help. They were equally horrified that Staefyn did not want to leave his mate and that he had taken Keilana of house Caron as his wife. Although she did not show her feelings, his mother was not quick enough to hide the hurt she felt that Staefyn would make on oath with the daughter of the man that had shamed her.

When Amyr had finished speaking, his mother sighed deeply. "I cannot give up on my son, especially not now when you tell me that he speaks to the ancestors." She sat on the edge of the bed and she looked at each of her children, Yori, and her brother. "We all saw what happened to Staefyn when he was a child, how they speak to him now and they continue to counsel him. If they have not given up on him, then we should not."

Apolo reached out to squeeze her hand. "Arora, he has to heed their counsel, and thus far he has not."

She met her brother's gaze. "Then his fate is in the hands of the gods."

"As is ours," he responded grimly.


	76. Chapter 76 An oath long overdue

**Chapter 76**

Only a few days after Amyr's meeting with Staefyn the imperial family left the city and headed to Edgeland Fortress with the forces they had gathered. Taeron and Amyr had gone ahead to prepare for their arrival, and when they had been at Edgeland Fortress for a week, the remainder of the imperial family arrived at nearly the same time as a dozen space craft from Ulfynaeus landed at the airfield. While Taeron greeted the emperor and his family, Amyr went to the landing field to meet the forces from the moon and was surprised to see Meridon step out of the first ship.

"By the gods, did my father know you would be coming?" Amyr could not even find the words to greet him properly.

Meridon crushed him in an embrace that knocked the breath from him. "I am pleased to see you as well, my son."

After the recent revelations concerning the night Meridon had prevented Trey from reaching the palace, Amyr could not believe the old clan chieftain had the temerity to come to the planet.

"My father is arriving as we speak." Gods, this could not be much worse! The imperials and clansmen would clash even before they could prepare them for a march on the plains where house Caron waited with Warlord Kai's army.

"Then take me to him now, boy." Meridon turned around. "Darlac!" he bellowed. "Set up camp!"

"Perhaps Darlac should accompany me and _you_ should set up the camp," suggested Amyr although he knew Meridon would refuse.

He barked with laughter. "Are you afraid?"

"Terrified," he admitted.

"You should not be. Your father is no fool. He will meet with me."

Knowing that Meridon would listen to no argument, Amyr walked with him back to Edgeland Fortress, trying to answer his questions while worrying about presenting him to his father. He doubted that the emperor would be pleased to welcome the man who had played such an important role in keeping him from reaching his wife and ultimately allowing Caron and his sons to brutalize her. Now that he knew the truth of that night, he might punish Meridon more severely than exile to the moon, especially now that Meridon had disobeyed his edict exiling him from the surface.

When they came to the training ground, Amyr saw his father standing with Taeron and Lord Duo, the men deep in discussion, Trey's back to them. Amyr was relieved until he heard his mother's voice and saw that she was coming up behind the old man.

"Meridon? What are you doing on the surface?"

Meridon spun around to face the wife of the emperor. She was wearing a padded battle tunic, a long sword at her side and a dagger tucked in the belt. "Lady Arora." He dropped to his knee before her and bowed his head. "I have come to offer my service to the emperor."

"Do you think he wants your service?" She glanced at Amyr with her brows raised as if he had the answer to her question.

Meridon raised his head to look at her. "Would he refuse another sword?"

"Will you give him your oath?"

"I am here to fight for him. Is that not enough?" His shaggy white brows were drawn together.

Arora leaned down to look him in the eye. "Why should he want a man at his side that would not swear allegiance to him?" She did not have to add 'Especially after what you did.'

"Does he have a choice?" growled Meridon.

"He always has a choice."

Meridon glanced at Amyr, then back at her. "I have accepted his son."

"You mean to say that you have stolen his son after calling his rights into question because of your own actions."

"My lady, I had to force his hand."

Amyr saw that his father noticed them and he was now walking in their direction with Taeron and Lord Duo. "Mother," he warned, nodding towards them.

She straightened and stepped aside for her husband.

"Meridon? I do not recall giving you permission to return to the surface. Can I assume that you are on your knees to give me your oath?"

"You may not," grunted Meridon. "I was paying my respects to your wife and I cannot get back up."

Amyr glanced at his father and saw that he was frowning down at the much older man. "This position would make it easier for me to take your head."

Meridon tugged on his beard and wriggled his bushy brows at Trey. "Is keeping my head dependent on whether I give you my oath?" He glanced at Amyr's mother. "My lady, may I give _you_ my oath?"

She sighed with exasperation. "Because I killed Zeno? Meridon, my lord husband defeated Zeno in honorable battle. Just because he showed him mercy makes him no less the victor in their duel."

"What has mercy to do with ending a tyrant's reign?" demanded Meridon gruffly and Amyr could hear the anger underlying his question. "That bastard and the demon he kept at his side killed many of my people, three of my sons were among the countless slain by his command. Two of my daughters were sold at his slave block! Why should I give my oath to the man who would not end his miserable life?"

Amyr's father let out a noisy sigh of exasperation. "Why did you come to the surface?"

"I brought my men to support Prince Taeron," Meridon told him boldly. "The only decision you have made that I agree with is setting aside your sorcerer son to make a warrior your heir." The older man looked up at Amyr. "I mean no offense, boy, but I knew the first time I saw you that you had Guerani magic in you. My people traded with them when they came out of the hills offering their healing skills to people suffering in the Wastelands. I heard enough about you to know that you were following in the footsteps of your mother's brother, and when you came to my camp, I knew exactly what you were or what you were about to become."

Amyr shook his head. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Because you were as arrogant as your father once was." Meridon glanced at Trey with squinty eyes. "Do you deny that?"

Trey folded his arms over his chest. "We are at an impasse, Meridon. I have every right to punish you."

"You do, but you won't because you need my men."

"How do you know that Darlac won't kneel to me with his oath?"

"He would kneel only to Prince Taeron as I have." Meridon glanced at Taeron. "Would you take my oath?"

"I am not your emperor," Taeron told him.

Meridon gave an exasperated sound. "Does it mean that much to you, Trey? My men will not turn on yours in battle. They have fought valiantly for Taeron under the banner of the empire, and they will fight to the death defending your rule."

"And yet ..."

"By the gods!" roared Meridon angrily, his face darkening. "I will not give you my oath! If you wanted it, you should have cut off that bastard Zeno's head!"

Amyr reached out to place a hand on Meridon's shoulder and as the man relaxed, he caught an approving nod from his mother.

Trey stared at him in silence for several moments, his hand on the hilt of his own sword and Amyr worried that he might draw it and remove the old chieftain's head, but he finally relaxed his stance. "What did you think Caron was going to do when you agreed to prevent me from returning to Imperia? Did you know he planned to brutalize my mate and kill her?"

Meridon rubbed his face with his hands, and then he looked at Arora. "He asked me to detain Trey so that he could not make it back and if he slipped through my warriors, he would be prevented from entering the palace." The old man's eyes glistened with tears. "I never would have agreed to your death."

"No," she said with a sardonic lift to her brows. "You agreed to publically shame me and call my son's rights into question."

"Dax shamed you," Meridon reminded her. "Rather, Camridaeus did. The Dax I knew never would have put his daughter in the Wastelands, certainly not after the trickery he used to save her at birth. As for Caron, his sons were close to Dilan, and they claimed that Dilan put that child in your belly." He glanced at Amyr and grunted. "You have the look of your father, certainly not of Xuxa's gods' cursed bastard."

"Caron used you in his own ambition to seize power," Trey told him. "What did he promise you in return for your alliance?"

"Freedom." Meridon sighed deeply. "My people were harassed for many years by imperials, for our customs, for our alliance with the Guerani, and when Zeno's father hunted them down, the harassment became persecution. Do you know how difficult it was to live in the Wastelands? When we found a place to settle, Zeno sent his warriors out to harry us into leaving and we wandered homeless to another settlement when he would send the warriors from Edgeland to attack us. You led one or two of those forays against us."

Amyr glanced at his father and saw that he was frowning. He knew that Trey had done many things that went against his nature because Zeno had demanded it. "I do not doubt that I did. So you believed that Caron would grant you the freedom to live in peace on the plains?"

"Should I have trusted you?"

"I suppose not." Amyr wondered if his father would have continued the persecution of Meridon's clan. Imperials did not understand those that chose to live outside the customs dictated by the imperial court. Even in his time warriors went into the hills to subdue clans that had not fled to either moon, and in his grandfather's time they had nearly destroyed an entire race.

"I can only offer my humblest apology to Lady Arora," Meridon told him and then looked at Amyr's mother as he dropped to his knees and leaned forward until his head was touching the ground, his arms stretched out to her. "I am shamed by what happened to you, gracious lady. I do not ask for your forgiveness because I do not deserve it."

She did not think long on her answer. "Good, Meridon, because I have no forgiveness to give you. While you are down there, give your oath to my husband because he has earned your loyalty. He has ruled all these years with fairness that has allowed you to maintain your customs and to prosper under the benevolent rule of his imperial guard."

For several moments they could only hear Meridon's heavy breathing as he remained in his supplicant pose, and then he growled. "I, Meridon, give you my oath on the honor of my house and my people, to serve and protect you, Trey of house Zeno."

Trey shared a smile with his wife before he said, "I, Trey of house Zeno, give you my oath on the honor of my house and my people, to serve and protect you, Meridon."

Lord Duo who had remained silent throughout now stepped forward to help haul the giant old man to his feet. "I am up for a celebration."

"We don't have much to celebrate," Trey reminded him wryly.

"We are heading out to the plains in a few days to meet an enormous army that is significantly larger than ours and well trained," said Duo. "It's like old times."

"Except that we are a little older and have a lot more to lose," Trey reminded him with a glance that went from Amyr to Taeron.

Amyr looked at Taeron who did not seem to be bothered by the odds they would be facing. He wondered if he worried at all that he might not live to see his daughter's birth, but he could no longer read Taeron's feelings.

"However," his father continued, "I would not object to a feast celebrating this momentous event. Duo, are you going to tell Larya to get that feast prepared with no advance notice?"

The look on Duo's face made Amyr chuckle and even Taeron smiled.

"I will do it," said Arora with a glance skyward. "I do not know why you men are so afraid of her."

Meridon grunted. "Perhaps I should send some of my men to help her if she is not up to the task of preparing a feast."

"By the gods! Don't let her hear you say that," warned Trey. "Or you will never hear the end of it."

The older man rubbed his hands together. "I am eager to meet this female."

"You have never met my mother?" asked Taeron with surprise.

"Why would I have the occasion to meet her? I have heard much of her, though. Darlac speaks highly of her although I have sensed some trepidation on his part as well. She must be truly frightening." He held out his hand to Arora. "Let me accompany you, gracious lady. Come with me, boy."

He had glanced towards Amyr who was standing near Taeron, and since they did not know which of them he spoke to, neither moved at first. Indeed, the emperor started as if to accompany them as well as Lord Duo, and since Taeron knew both older men did not purposely put themselves in Larya's company, he closed the distance and offered his support to the hobbling man. Amyr joined them because he thought he might be amused by Meridon's meeting with Taeron's mother. He noticed that their fathers followed at a discreet distance, probably for the same reason.

Since the old chieftain did not hesitate to offer his hand to her, knowing what she was, Amyr's mother took it and after a moment of walking, leaning heavily on Taeron, he remarked, "You have a wondrous healing touch, gracious lady. You probably do not know that your father's healing skills were extraordinary, even for a Guerani. His father, Yaral, had healed Zeno after he had been attacked and poisoned by a mountain viper, and Dax had been his apt pupil. Yaral had been proud of his skills."

"You knew my father, then?" inquired Arora with a glance up at Meridon.

"And your grandfather," he pointed out and laughed gruffly. "I am a very old man, my lady, old enough to have been chased out the hills by Zeno's father, old enough to call Yaral friend. Who do you think Dax brought Valerya us to when she was just a child? I counseled him not to go to the imperial court, not to try to exact a vengeance which could never be satisfied. Perhaps Camridaeus gripped his heart then."

"Your people raised my mother?" asked Arora curiously. "She came to the imperial city with Xuxa, did she not?"

"Valerya became acquainted with Xuxa when they were children. In the hot months my clan lived in the sacred hills where the imperials feared to tread and we were friendly with Joran's tribe." Meridon snorted. "I don't know how that fool survived the cold season in the hills, but he would not go into the Wastelands, said they were cursed."

Amyr exchanged a glance with Taeron. They both knew that Joran's tribe had probably found hot springs to keep them warm through the winter months. Although Joran's tribe was also now living on Ulyfynaeus, they had been relatively safe from imperial incursions while Meridon's large clan was frequently attacked by the empire.

"Both of those females grew to be great beauties, and during the cold months when we were settled in a Wasteland camp, Zeno was in the hills hunting with Dax when he happened on Joran's people." Meridon shook his head and made a sound of disgust. "Knowing the crown prince might return with his warriors or that he might order his imperial guard to slaughter them, Joran prepared a feast welcoming Zeno. Ever ambitious, Xuxa made certain to be the female that waited on Zeno and Dax and he was appreciative of her efforts. In his youth, he was a randy male that took whatever female attracted his attention."

Meridon looked over his shoulder at Amyr and winked which made Amyr lower his gaze shamefully, especially when his mother looked at him disapprovingly at him. "Joran offered her to keep him warm in his furs through the night and she put her talents to work. In the morning Zeno took her with him, but he would not give her his oath or bond with her. He seemed to have a sense to keep her from resorting to trickery."

"My father," guessed Arora. Amyr wondered if she was thinking of the trickery Xuxa had used on a small child. "How did my mother come to court?"

Meridon sighed deeply. "Xuxa became a very powerful woman, especially when she ripened with child. Zeno's interest had quickly waned, especially when he met Virinea, but he gave Xuxa a place in his house and as the acknowledged concubine of the crown prince, she could do as she pleased."

She had been doing as she pleased before that, thought Amyr wryly, since the child she bore was not Zeno's, but Dax's. Amyr suspected that Zeno knew about their affair and did not care, especially when he had fallen in love with the beautiful alien female to whom he had given his oath.

"Although her father and his tribe viewed her actions as dishonorable, they could not turn her away when she visited them in the hills, not when she was accompanied by imperial warriors. During one such visit, we were also visiting, and Xuxa and Valerya struck up their friendship again. Xuxa wanted Valerya to go back to the court with her, to help her through the difficult time of bearing her child, and I did not want her to go, but Valerya insisted there was something in the imperial city waiting for her. I could not refuse her although I knew I would never see her again."

"She was drawn to my father," Arora remarked aloud. "She once told Apolo that she recognized Dax as her other half the first moment their eyes met."

"Mating among siblings was rare among the Guerani," Meridon told her, "but not forbidden. They did not know each other since she was a small child barely walking when he left her with us, but they knew that the gods meant for them to be together." He squeezed her hand. "You and Apolo are their legacy, their hope for your people."

The fact that Camridaeus was drawn to Ulfynaeus probably shared in the attraction between Dax and Valerya, but Amyr knew it was not the only reason his grandparents had fallen in love. Their love for each other had kept Camridaeus at bay until that fateful night when Valerya had died shortly after his mother's birth. Even with Valerya's essence inside, Dax could not resist the evil of Camridaeus.

They had reached the hall where Larya and Apolo were directing men to find temporary housing, and seeing Meridon, Apolo stopped speaking and his brows drew together as they came closer. "Meridon? You gods' cursed bastard! How dare you come to the surface?"

Amyr could see that his uncle was furious that the man who was partly responsible for what had happened to his sister dared to violate the edict exiling him to the second moon.

"Meridon has given Trey his oath," Arora announced.

"And he accepted!" Apolo was outraged.

Larya put her hand on her mate's arm and Amyr was amazed that her touch was enough to calm him even without Guerani power. "Be reasonable, Apolo. Trey cannot afford to send away an ally offering warriors because of a past transgression."

"Larya," warned Apolo. "What happened to my sister is more than just a transgression."

"To her it was much more," sniffed Larya. "But to you and that oaf that rules Calabria, it is a transgression upon your male honor and, I daresay, your ego. Renaeld did what he did and got what he had coming to him."

"She is right," Arora announced although Amyr agreed with his uncle. "I have lived with this for many years. I wanted to tell Trey at the time, but I had an infant at my breast and Trey was celebrating a decisive victory. Renaeld was happy to escape with his life, but he did escape and he was at the head of a sizeable force that could have challenged Trey again. House Caron and I had an unspoken treaty between us."

"One you had no right to make," snapped Apolo.

Amyr guessed that their stay in the trance had not gone well and the most important issues remained unresolved.

Meridon remained silent during the exchange, his gaze on Larya who now turned to look at him. For a moment neither spoke, and then Larya said, "You are the inconsiderate male who has given me with the task of finding food for your troops before you set out on this foolhardy campaign."

His shaggy white brows raised momentarily, and then he smiled. "I am honored to meet the female that has given Calabria its crown prince." He patted Taeron's arm on which he was leaning heavily.

She noticed how he was standing. "Forgive me, Lord Meridon. There is a comfortable seat in my private chamber. You are an old man and need some rest after the flight from the moon."

Meridon frowned at her. "I am old, that is true, but the flight from the moon is only a few moments..."

"Regardless, you must need rest as much as I need you out of my way. I had heard that you are an old man who stays in his mud hut resting all day with his legion of daughters to wait upon him." Larya took a dim view of men who subjugated females and she must have decided he was one such man.

Amyr almost chuckled at the stunned look on Meridon's face, and he turned to see that his father and Lord Duo were trying not to laugh. Taeron appeared to be embarrassed by his mother, but then, when was Taeron not embarrassed by her?

"Are those females truly your daughters or do you just enjoy the company of beautiful young females hovering about you within your reach?" continued Larya, barely pausing for a breath.

Meridon threw up his hand before him and Amyr could sense the indignation rolling off him. His mother and uncle moved protectively towards Larya although Amyr did not sense any violence in him.

"By the gods, mother," hissed Taeron. "You have gone too far."

She shrugged. "I know very little of him, only that he has many females that he hides in his camp, calling them daughters when they are far too young to be his daughters."

The old chieftain pressed his lips together for a moment, and then he said, "Lord Apolo had many such daughters that he rescued from the sands. Not every imperial had the stomach to leave a child to die. In the dark of night, I have accepted many such infants and raised them as my own."

There was not a single person who was not surprised by his revelation. Amyr had always assumed that Meridon had not bonded with his wife and that he had many concubines who bore him children. He wondered if Lord Duo even knew the truth, and with a glance back, he saw that both his father and his imperial guard could not hide their surprise.

"He raised my mother in such a manner," Arora spoke up, giving Meridon a smile of gratitude.

Before anyone could react, Meridon's huge beefy hand shot forward and he grasped Larya's chin, and he tilted her face up so that she met his gaze. Apolo was on his toes, his body trembling with fear and rage to see his mate handled by another man and Taeron was tense, his grip on Meridon's other hand tightened.

For a long, agonizing moment, no one spoke and then Meridon asked, "Were you a child of the sands, Lady Larya?"

She blinked up at him. "I … I believe so. I have little memory from before my arrival in the imperial city."

"I have rarely seen a Calabrian with white hair." Frowning, Amyr realized that he had never seen a young Calabrian with white hair either except Jeshed who was not really Calabrian. Even Meridon's hair had as much gray as white.

Meridon's gaze moved over her face, and Amyr could sense sorrow in him, but he could not determine why. Then Meridon released her and a smile touched his lips. "Female, you may lead me to your comfortable chamber, and I will stay out of your way as long as your bring me some of Lady Trynity's tea."

"Maybe we should get Trynity to give him some of the special tea," Amyr heard Lord Duo murmur to Trey.

"I would rather she give _me_ some of that special tea," responded the emperor. "Not as potent next time. I would like to enjoy it a little bit longer."

"I doubt she will be taking special orders from you," said Duo, "And your wife is glaring at you."

Trey winced.

Amyr chuckled as he watched Meridon leave with Larya holding him on one side and Taeron supporting him on the other. He heard Meridon tell Taeron that he brought a little something his women had cooked up on the moon and that the emperor's wife probably was not going to like it.

Amyr suspected that his father would like it too much.


	77. Chapter 77 Tea with Meridon

**Chapter 77**

After escorting Meridon to his mother's chamber so that he could rest, Taeron hoped he could find Dijana, preferably alone since he had not been with her for several days. But Meridon forced Taeron to remain and demanded to have tea with the princess that had caused so much trouble. Taeron was eager to go find her, but his mother forced him to sit with the old chieftain while she left to find Dijana, and by the look she gave him, his mother knew that he had no intention of returning soon once he found his wife. So as Taeron waited for his mother to return with Dijana and the tea, he and Meridon discussed the upcoming battle that would decide the fate of Calabria and the empire.

The old warrior had great confidence in Trey's ability to overcome the odds. "He surrounds himself with men that do the impossible," Meridon remarked. "And women," he added as an afterthought. "That Guerani female kept an army at bay for many years."

Now that the truth was known, house Caron had nothing to fear from Arora, and with Staefyn on their side married to their female, they could very well end Trey's reign. Would Staefyn raise his sword to his father? Could he actually end his life? The thought of him trying sickened Taeron. The Staefyn who ruled the hills from Guerani Palace and threatened his father was not the Staefyn he had known. That conniving, vindictive female had twisted him into a man Taeron would not be able to recognize.

His mother returned with Dijana and several servants who prepared the tea as Taeron introduced his wife to the old chieftain. Meridon viewed her through narrowed eyes, but Dijana did not cower under his intimidating gaze.

"So, you are the female that my lord prince believed worth breaking his oath over?"

Before she could answer, Larya spoke. "My son did not break his oath."

"You did not make an oath to the Caron female?" Meridon asked Taeron.

"I made no oath." At least that was true although he had come perilously close to taking Keilana as his mate. Just thinking about it made him shudder.

"The slippery devil that sired my son managed to keep from even signing marriage agreements." Larya laughed and Meridon smiled. "That was one of those rare moments that I remembered why I allowed him to sire my child. He fooled both Caron and Trey."

Meridon grunted and looked at Dijana. "Are you pleased that this match has resulted in a war?"

Before Taeron could object, Dijana responded. "My marriage did not precipitate this war."

"No, your Varoonyan lover did."

Taeron shot to his feet in anger, but Dijana reached out to grasp his wrist and pull him back down. "My lord..." she began.

"I am no lord," Meridon interrupted her. "I am the chieftain of a clan exiled to the moon. I risked the emperor's wrath to return to fight for Taeron and I want to know if you are worth it."

"This war has been a long time coming," pointed out Larya. "I, for one, have never enjoyed watching a man die more than I did that night. I think you would have been proud of Trey, Meridon."

He rubbed his bearded chin and drank some tea before responding. "You are a vicious female, Larya."

As he sipped tea again, Taeron glanced at Dijana to see if the old man had upset her, but he could not sense her feelings and he was glad that she had mastered hiding them. If not, she would fall prey to all manner of cruelties at the imperial court. He supposed that she had plenty of practice growing up at Balak's court and would probably find the petty mischief of the bored imperial nobles child's play after what had happened to her on Teralon.

Meridon turned his attention back to Dijana. "Lady Larya is right, princess. House Caron has probably been planning to seize the imperial throne for many years, so you should bear no blame. I have yet to hear that you are worth the trouble you have given Taeron." He looked at Taeron. "Does the princess please you, my lord prince?"

Taeron had never been asked the question, and he smiled as he looked at Dijana who met his gaze, her own concerned as if she worried about his answer. He had not been with her since leaving for Edgeland Fortress two weeks ago and now he wanted to be alone with her, to tell her and show her quite thoroughly, how well she pleased him.

He was about to answer Meridon, but his mother, as usual, did not allow him to respond. Then again, he probably should have spoken instead of admiring his beloved wife.

"Of course, she pleases him!"

"I have heard that he handles her like he does his sword, so he must be well pleased," remarked Meridon with a wink at Dijana..

Dijana's face flamed, but Taeron started to think about handling Dijana like he did his sword and about other ways to make her blush.

"You are well informed," Larya said.

"His men gossip about him and I doubt there is anyone in the empire who has not heard."

Taeron was frowning to think of his men talking about his personal life, but then he reminded himself that he had asked for help in composing his ballad on Teralon, so he should not be surprised that they took a personal interest in his marriage. There were many men from house Caron who had gone to Teralon with him and helped in his courtship so Taeron could not help feeling betrayed that they would raise their swords against him.

Meridon guessed his feelings. "Do not think of those Caron dogs. You have earned their loyalty of my men, boy and they care about you as more than a leader. They are willing to die for you."

"I would be willing to die for them as well," said Taeron.

"I would rather you did not die,"sniffed his mother. "Your new wife needs a mate and your child needs a father. Perhaps Trey should try something new, something like diplomacy."

To his surprise, Dijana made a sound of disgust. "Diplomacy will not work with men like Warlord Kai. He is determined to rule and nothing will stand in his way."

"I will stand in his way." Taeron would kill the bastard on the battlefield. Dijana might be free of him now, but Taeron would never be satisfied until the creature was dead. Not just for what he had done to Dijana, but for what he had done to countless innocent men and women on Varoonya, Teralon and Calabria.

"You are glowing, my dear," remarked his mother.

"I am not glowing." Taeron could not see what she had pointed out but he noticed Dijana trying not to smile. By the gods, he would rather be with her than entertaining Meridon.

"Darlac told me about his holy light," commented Meridon. "I did not believe him until now."

"I do not have a holy light," denied Taeron. Why did they persist in attributing him with magic?

"I approve of your mate," announced Meridon. "But I heard that she is already breeding. How can that be when I know that you are an honorable man and would not shame a female."

Taeron would have told him that he believed Dijana to be his wife, that he had been bonded to her, but his mother responded. "Gods forbid! My son and his mate are foolish young people who got carried away on Teralon when he was bonded to her."

"Is he no longer bonded to her?" asked Meridon.

Taeron took a breath to explain, but his mother spoke for him. "That infamous sorcerers on the frontier removed his bond and Dijana has wisely chosen not to bond with him."

Meridon frowned. "My people only bond when their devotion is deep. I was bonded to my dear Caelitha and I never once regretted it."

"And yet this ugly business at Guerani Palace proves how easy it is for a female to misuse it," argued Larya.

"What she did is forbidden," growled Meridon.

"That woman will do whatever she wants to whomever she wants as long as she draws a breath." Larya was trembling with anger. "I was with Arora when Staefyn was born, and I feel her pain at losing him to Xuxa as if it were my own."

Dijana moved restlessly and when Taeron caught her eyes, she looked at the door as if to ask if they could leave. So he started to rise, an excuse on the tip of his tongue, but his mother glared at him, so he dropped back down on his seat.

"Lady Larya, were you sold in the imperial slave market?" asked Meridon after chuckling over their aborted attempt to escape.

"When I was a small child," she told him. "Lady Xuxa purchased me in the market. I do not even remember the day because I was so young. "

"We have that whore to thank for this debacle," grunted Meridon. "Zeno should have dealt with her permanently long ago. She lied to him, betrayed him and shamed his house in many ways."

"And continues to do so," sighed Larya as she prepared another cup of tea for Meridon.

After drinking a generous portion, he looked at Taeron. "Why are you still here, boy? Have you not been separated from your mate for several days now?"

His mother made a sound of irritation. "My son has little understanding of a woman's needs."

Taeron might have argued that they had not given him a chance to leave, but he was not going to give his mother an opportunity to stop him. So he held out his hand and Dijana quickly took it. "My mother is right, I have much to learn."

Dijana smiled at him. "And I have much to teach him."

As they hurried out, Taeron heard Meridon laugh and then ask, "Is it true that she howls like a canyon beast?"

When they were further down the corridor where they could not hear his mother's response, Taeron pushed Dijana against the wall with his body and covered her mouth with his own. He was not bonded to her, but his desire for her was just as acute as if he were, and because she clung to him, returning his kiss with equal fervor, he knew her need matched his own.

He was about to lift her and carry her to his chamber which he unfortunately shared with Amyr, Jeshed and his father when he heard a clearing throat and he reluctantly raised his head to find Danlaer standing a few paces away, his lips pressed together to keep from smiling.

"My lord prince, the emperor asks that you attend him now."

Dijana's sigh blew across his neck and he closed his eyes against the wave of desire that shot through him. He leaned down to brush her lips with his and then touched his forehead to hers. "I must go."

"I should rest," she told him although he could see in her eyes that she would prefer to be doing something else. "The journey here was long and I did not sleep well on the ground these last two nights. With the feast this evening, the day promises to be long as well."

Taeron felt guilty for not thinking of how she must be feeling physically after the three day trip from the city on the back of a horse. But that did not stop the frustration he felt at being separated from her now. Later when he would have to spend the night with the men of his house. There was so little time left for them to be together.

"My lord prince," prompted Danlaer.

Reluctantly he left her behind with the promise that he would find a way for them to have time alone together. As he followed Danlaer, Taeron passed Lady Trynity had gathered and was instructing the men and women that would serve as healers in the courtyard. They would stay at the rear of the forces, but beside his father's mate and Shamara there were no other healers besides Chaela who were trained to fight. Chaela would remain at Edgeland Fortress because she did not have full command of her powers and her mother feared she would overuse them. Although Dijana's guards, Guillem and Valter seemed capable enough, Taeron was relieved that an imperial warrior of Chaela's skill would be with her as well.

A small force of guards would stay behind at the fortress to protect those remaining, and Jeshed was included among their number. The shapeshifter was not pleased to be left behind because he believed he would be of more use to the warriors, but Taeron had pointed out that he would only be able to make one fire-breathing pass over Kai's army and even then he would be at the mercy of the catapults that the Varoonyan forces had built to protect against his aerial attack. They would be watching for the dragon and Taeron doubted Jeshed had ever learned to dodge attacks from the ground. So Jeshed would remain at Edgeland Fortress charged primarily with protecting Yori.

The emperor did not hide his surprise that Taeron had come so quickly in answering his summons, but he did not comment before directing the attention of his warlords to the map spread out on the table. Jeshed had flown high over the plains that morning so that he could report on troop movements. Warlord Kai's thralls, those he had brought to Calabria with Staefyn's help and those that he had made among the clans still hiding in the hills, were positioned between the divided warriors from house Caron. Those would be commanded by Aevan and Caerl, two warriors who had not blooded their swords and had no experience in command. As for their own forces, Taeron would lead the clans with Darlac while Lord Duo commanded half of the forces that remained loyal to the emperor and Trey would lead the rest into battle with Arora and Apolo at his side.

The warriors from Bayman were sworn to Shamara, so they would be protecting the healers, and since the Teralonian warriors were not fully trained, they would be used as couriers between the warlords and Edgeland Fortress. Queen Neria wanted to fight, but her husband reminded her what had happened to the Teralonian warriors that Balak had sent against the Calabrians. Taeron suspected Neria would put her chakrams to good use regardless of what she was told.

Several healers would remain at Edgeland Fortress to take care of any wounded transported from the battle zone. Larya would be in charge of the fortress which would be shielded with wards that the Guerani would set before leaving. If the battle was lost, the Teralonians would return to take away the survivors at the fortress in their ships. Larya would stop at Dagmaeus for her children and then she would continue on to Bayman with Yori and Jeshed. Dijana's parents would take her back to Teralon, and Taeron could not imagine how Dijana would feel if she were forced to leave him behind. He hoped that she would realize that their child was too important to risk in a vain hope that he would survive. Their unborn daughter was important to Teralon, but she was even more precious to Taeron because she was his legacy and the living symbol of his love for Dijana.

When the meeting ended late in the day, Trey stopped Taeron when he would have gone in search of his wife. His father had already gone, and Arora left with Apolo, so he was alone with Trey.

"I know how you are feeling at this moment. Your father has probably told you about some of the impossible odds that we faced in the past."

Taeron had heard stories of some of the battles the emperor and his imperial guards had fought, some against fathers of the house Caron warriors they would soon face on the battlefield.

"I am not afraid," he told Trey.

"Of course you are not. You cannot afford fear for yourself, Taeron, but I know that you must be worried about Dijana and your unborn child."

"She will be safe here with the gates closed and warded." Taeron hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.

But he could see by the emperor's rueful smile that he did not. "When I was young and bold, I took Shamara into battle with me. She was with me the night that Amyr was born, on the battlefield clinging to me as I swung my sword, both of us protected by Apolo's spell. In those days, I would rather she died with me on the battlefield than at the hands of my enemies."

"I do not want Dijana to die," admitted Taeron. "Even if I fall in battle, I want her and our daughter to live."

"Danlaer and Keldar will remain behind to keep the hyperspace transports ready for escape. Our children are our future. I was a fool to risk Shamara's life. I would never do it again."

The woman of whom he spoke was approaching them. "I am sure that I must have saved your life once or twice, father." She reached him and kissed his cheeks and he slipped an arm around her waist.

"I am sure that you did." He kissed the top of her head.

Shamara looked at Taeron. "Your wife is helping with the feast preparations. I think Larya is enjoying ordering her around."

"Perhaps I should rescue her," said Taeron, wondering what his mother was making Dijana do that a princess would be able to do. He remembered that Shamara had proven herself on Mars Colony to be almost incapable of doing household chores so he doubted Dijana had ever done anything so mundane as preparing food or arranging dinnerware. He could well imagine her reaction to what Larya was planning to serve, especially since he knew that his mother had supplies aplenty in the dirt floors beneath the fortress.

Shamara was reading his mind. "I have noticed that Dijana has not yet accustomed herself to our food preference. Dagan is still disgusted by what I choose to eat. There is a delicious variety on Bayman."

"If we survive this debacle, then I expect you to bring me samples as Taeron has done," said her father.

Shamara laughed. "I can see the look on Dagan's face now as you negotiate for the newest technology and shipments of all manner of insects."

"I regret that I did not have my memory so that I could sample them on Earth," remarked her father. "Your mother and Apolo both told me that what they did try was tasty."

"Lady Trynity has suggested that Dijana's digestive system may not be able to handle what we eat," remarked Taeron.

Trey snorted derisively. "Leave it to Trynity to give her an excuse to avoid a good source of food just because she is squeamish. You will have to get Dijana to eat as we do if she is to stay on Calabria."

"If not her, then your daughter," added Shamara. "Dagan does not stop me from feeding our children what I believe is best for them. And I have noticed that Yori enjoys crispy sandslugs."

"Who does not?" Trey chuckled. "Oh, yes, Quynn. I doubt anyone is offering her a variety of food at Guerani Palace. Amyr will owe Staefyn for training his wife to eat like a civilized Calabrian."

Taeron was eased by talk of the future and he smiled as he imagined his sister's reaction to how Calabrian Yori had become in her absence. "When we win this battle, we will march on Guerani Palace to free my sister." In Taeron's heart, he also hoped to save Staefyn.

Trey put his hand on Taeron's shoulder and he knew he sensed and shared his unspoken desire. "So we shall."


	78. Chapter 78 Feast at Edgeland Fortress

**Chapter 78**

Shamara remained with Taeron after the emperor left and they walked into the hall together where there was a flurry of activity to prepare for the feast. There were many people working so Taeron soon gave up looking for Dijana among the men and women setting up temporary tables and seating. Instead he left Shamara with the task of telling Dijana that he would join her later and he left the fortress to go to the camp that Meridon's men had made between the fortress and the landing field. The transports that had shuttled them to the surface had returned to the moon so that the enemy could not make use of them and there were two Teralonian ships in addition to the one hyperspace ship remaining. Danlaer was checking over the systems on that ship, so Taeron stopped to discuss the escape plan with him until a messenger arrived to inform Taeron that he should accompany Darlac to the feast.

Returning to Meridon's camp, he found Darlac signaling to several of his men to follow and Taeron was surprised to see them heft large wooden barrels. He told Taeron that his father had been working with Lady Trynity to make a tasty beverage from a fermented herb that he was sure they would all enjoy. Remembering the last time he had taken wine and awakened to find Dijana abducted, Taeron thought he should probably pass on having any. He would probably lose consciousness again and wake to find the fortress being overrun by thralls.

The feast was already well underway when they arrived to a chorus of approving shouts and one gruff command from Meridon who was seated beside Trey.

"Bring one of those barrels here! The emperor wants to sample our latest recipe!"

Seeing Dijana seated between her mother and Lord Duo who now banged a cup on the table before raising it for Darlac to fill, Taeron went to them. "Have you already sampled Meridon's brew?" he asked as he slid onto the bench between him and Dijana.

"More than he should," grumbled Lady Trynity. "And it is not quite Meridon's recipe since I had a hand in creating it."

Trey leaned forward to spear her with an accusing glare. "Have you spoiled it, Trynity? Is this just a spicy tea now?"

"Try it and find out," she challenged him.

Darlac poured a mug of the amber liquid that fizzed and foamed, then he handed it to the emperor who shrugged off his wife's hand on his arm to take it.

"Don't drink that," warned Arora. "You know what happens when you do and I will not heal your aching head and twisting innards."

He ignored her and raised his cup high. "Let us drink to Meridon and his fine brew." There were shouts of approval and Trey drank from his cup, spilling some on his tunic which had his wife frowning.

Trynity leaned over to Arora. "Don't worry, he won't get anything more than a slight buzz. There is barely any alcohol in it. Because Calabrians are lacking the enzymes to properly disgest alcohol, I have cultivated a plant similar to hops that ..."

"Maxwell, shut your mate up!" barked Trey.

Before she could continue speaking, Duo seized a handful of her hair and dragged her head to his to kiss her thoroughly. The men in the hall banged their cups on the table in approval, until Duo suddenly released her and yelped in pain.

Trey burst into laughter. "Defensive move number one!" He raised his cup to drink and then looked down into it perplexed. "Why is my cup empty?" One of Meridon's men hurried to fill it despite the dark look Arora gave both him and her husband.

"I have some nectar from Teralon," Neria suggested from the other side of Dijana. "Perhaps the emperor would like to try it."

"No!" Arora and Trynity blurted at the same time.

Looking away from them, Taeron reached for Dijana's hand under the table. "Did you rest?"

She leaned against him, raising her face to his. "More than I wanted to."

He did not need her to voice her invitation and he was about to kiss her when a hand dropped on his shoulder. "I don't think my father should try any of the Teralonian nectar." Taeron looked up to see Amyr.

Dijana glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Protecting my prince," he said with a chuckle and a smile that told Taeron that he knew he was annoying Dijana.

Neria glanced at Amyr. "Prince Amyr, would you sit by me?"

"Mother, there is not enough room!"

Amyr seized Dijana around the waist despite her gasp of outrage and deposited her on Taeron's lap before quickly sliding onto the bench so that she could not prevent him from sitting. "Queen Neria, I have not had a chance to find out how you are enjoying Calabria."

"I was here several months ago," she reminded him. "Nothing has changed. Calabrians are still blood-thirsty brutes and now that they do not have another world to subdue, they are fighting each other."

As Amyr laughed, Taeron brought Dijana's head to his when he saw that she was glaring at Amyr. "You should be thanking him, princess, for putting you where you want to be."

She slipped an arm around his neck and leaned against him. Taeron wanted to be elsewhere with his wife and wondered if they would be missed if he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out. Her mother was looking at him with an arched brow as if she expected him to do it.

"I suppose he is good for something," murmured Dijana. She stretched up to whisper in his ear, "Is that your dagger I feel against my bottom?"

Smiling, he produced a dagger. "No, it is right here."

Dijana laughed softly and wriggled on his lap. "I think I feel another."

Queen Neria sniffed and Taeron noticed that Dijana's father was frowning. "I expect better behavior out of my daughter," grumbled Roehan.

"I think she has set a wonderful precedent. The bench is hard anyway." Lady Trynity hopped onto her husband's lap.

"Hey, babe, don't get between me and my food," growled Lord Duo before popping a handful of sandslugs in his mouth.

His wife moved on his lap as Dijana had on Taeron's and his father choked and spit out much of what he had just put in it. The men and women at their table burst into laughter as Trynity slapped him on the back, but once the coughing had subsided and she tried to return to her place on the bench, Duo pulled her back on his lap.

"You started something, Miss Stryfe, that you are going to see to the end."

Taeron noticed Amyr watching them with a wistful look on his face, so he reached over to touch his hand. "Soon you will have Quynn back in your arms."

Amyr gave him a half-smile, so Taeron guessed he was pessimistic about their odds. "At least she is safe at Guerani Palace and I don't think Staefyn would harm her or my children."

"Where is Yori?" asked Taeron, glancing around the crowded hall.

"Jeshed is with him." Amyr sighed deeply. "They are very close, closer than I can be with my son. Once I would have been jealous, but now I am only grateful for the relationship they have. Jeshed will protect him when I cannot."

Before they could speak any more, Darlac stopped at the table with two large mugs of the foaming beverage. Taeron noticed that his father and the emperor were having a second cup, slamming their cups together before they looked as though they were racing to drain them. He raised his own and after sipping the brew and finding it tasty, he drank more and when he had finished he felt momentarily giddy and flushed. Amyr had already finished his and held out his cup for more.

"You are warm, my lord prince." Dijana slipped her arms around his waist and snuggled closer to him. He felt a little disoriented from the foaming brew, but not so much that he did not recognize the invitation his wife was giving him.

Darlac had refilled his cup, and after taking another drink and noticing that Amyr was distracted with Neria and his father was busy with some drinking contest with the emperor while their mates commiserated about their foolish behavior, Taeron swung his legs over the bench and lifted Dijana in his arms. Taking her hand, he did not care who noticed them leaving as if anyone would with the raucous revelry that characterized Meridon's feasts.

They did not go far from the hall, just far enough to find some privacy, and putting his back against the wall, he pulled her to him, kissing her until they were both breathless. Her hands pulled at his clothing as he shifted hers and after a brief mishap with one of his daggers that had them both laughing, they were doing what they had wanted earlier. Although the encounter was short, they found mutual pleasure before he slid to the floor with her in his arms.

He held her close as she panted against his neck, and he breathed in her scent, planting it in his memory so that he could recall it in the days to come when they would be parted. "I love you, Dijana," he murmured into her hair.

She raised her face to his. "I am so frightened, Taeron, that you will not return."

He could see her fear and while the odds they faced seemed insurmountable, he had to reassure her, to give her hope. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "I will return, Dijana." He smiled at her. "I have gone through too much to have you, so I will fight thousands to come back to you."

Tears spilled over her lashes but she returned his smile. "I will be very angry if you do not return."

He threaded his fingers through her hair to bring her lips to his. "I would not wish for you to be angry with me again."

Before he could kiss her, he heard females giggling and Dijana turned her head to see the handful of servants carrying platters loaded with food.

"You are blocking the way, my lord prince." The females giggled again and Dijana scrambled from his lap and pushed her gown down as Taeron rearranged his own clothing. His wife's flaming cheeks charmed him and he wondered how angry Trey and Meridon would be if he took his wife to his empty chamber to spend the evening with her. The thought was fleeting because he had an obligation to remain at the feast as did his wife, so with a regretful sigh, he slipped an arm around Dijana's waist and hurried her back to the hall where the feast seemed to have gotten even more raucous.

As he took his place on the bench beside Amyr, pulling Dijana on his lap, he caught Amyr's knowing smile and Neria's arched brows. He was surprised to see that Roehan seemed amused, but then Roehan's face was flushed so he was probably drinking copious amounts of Teralonian nectar.

Taeron was spared the impertinent comment that hovered on Amyr's lips by Meridon pounding on the makeshift table that was no more than a plank across two barrels.

"Darlac! Show us your swords!"

Several dark clad men cleared space in the middle of the hall for Darlac who set aside his serving pitcher to pull the two curved swords he wore at his sides to step to the middle of the opened area. Taeron heard Neria remark that now they would be seeing blood since it was a rare day on Calabria that she did not see someone bleed. Darlac spun his swords with amazing speed as he did a series of movements that were similar to the routine a warrior must master before receiving an imperial sword. When he finished, the warriors in the hall pounded on the tables with approval and Darlac bowed low to the emperor who nodded in approval.

"You can be proud of your son," Trey told Meridon who was sitting beside him.

"Darlac is my brother's son," Meridon told him. "When his father died in battle during one of Prince Dilan's incursions, I took him as my own."

Trey gave him a half-smile. "Have you taken many orphaned males as your sons?"

Meridon snorted with laughter and slapped Trey on the back so hard that the emperor had to throw out his hand to keep his head from slamming on the table before him. "If they were not orphaned, there would be no need! Where is that rascal I recently claimed as my own? Amyr!"

Dijana made a sound of annoyance as Amyr jostled her in climbing over the table to answer the old chieftain's call. "My lord!" He strode to the table and bowed to his father and Meridon.

"Has the emperor seen your skill?"

"I have not had the opportunity to show him," Amyr responded although Taeron saw Lady Arora lean towards her husband to whisper something in his ear.

Trey nodded and said, "My wife has pointed out that you have not properly received your commision as Prince Taeron's imperial guard. Bring your sword to her." As Amyr drew his sword and took it to lay on the table before his mother, Taeron set Dijana aside on the bench before climbing over it to join Amyr.

He bowed to the emperor and his wife. "I present Amyr, prince of house Trey, for your consideration as my imperial guard." Drawing the sword his father had given him, Taeron handed it to Amyr and stepped aside to give Amyr room to perform the moves all imperial guards must know.

As Amyr swung the sword and moved through the compulsory routine that Calabrian children learned at an early age, Taeron moved around the perimeter of the clearing, and when he began to call out more complex moves, he pointed to a warrior for each one. That warrior attacked Amyr who was expected to use the move Taeron had announced to defeat his attacker, and when he finished, another took his place. Taeron mused as he sent one after another against Amyr that not so very long ago Amyr did not even know the names of the moves let alone be able to execute the complicated steps and sword work required to perform them. But Amyr moved well, with the grace and skill expected of an imperial guard and when the exercise had come to an end, there was thunderous pounding on the tables.

Heading to Taeron, Amyr dropped to a knee, lowered his head and raised the sword. "Thank you, my lord prince."

Taeron took back his sword and stepped away when Amyr's mother came to Amyr to hold out the sword he had put before her. Now it was glowing with white Guerani magic that made many gasp who had never seen her present an imperial warrior with a sword.

"I give you this sword to protect the empire, Prince Amyr. How will you use this sword?"

He reached up to take the sword. "In service to the emperor."

When he responded to the imperial vow, Taeron thought of the many imperial warriors among the ranks of house Caron who would use the sword that Lady Arora had placed in their hands in this very hall after this very exercise to fight against the emperor they had sworn to serve. He simmered with indignant anger against the men he had trained as he had Amyr, men he had commanded, men he had fought beside, ate beside and slept beside, men who would now try to kill him. How could they not feel the same deep shame that he had when he believed he had broken his oath to marry Princess Dijana? How could they raise the sword that Lady Arora had infused with her magic against her and the rightful ruler?

Taeron was so infuriated by his thoughts that he had become unaware of his surroundings until he realized that Amyr stood before him holding out his hand, his palm bloody. Although he should not be surprised that Amyr was giving him his bonded oath, Taeron did not think it was necessary. Remembering Amyr's annoyance several years ago at the cut through his palm when Taeron had given his oath to him, Taeron smiled to see the earnest look on his face now. When Lady Arora held out the dagger Amyr had used to cut his hand, Taeron took it, sliced through his palm and grasped Amyr's hand to clasp their bleeding palms together. Lady Arora put her hand over theirs and spoke a Guerani blessing and when she stepped away, Taeron was not surprised to see that the cut was healed, leaving a faint scar behind.

Thunderous shouts of approval concluded the ceremony and Taeron noted that Amyr seemed to walk with a spring to his step as he beamed ecstatically. When they climbed over the table to resume their seat, Amyr took the space beside Taeron's father so that Taeron was forced to sit by Neria.

Dijana's mother frowned at his bloody hand as Dijana inspected it. "I knew there would be blood. I think you Calabrians thrive on the sight and smell of it."

"Mother!" Dijana glared at her. "Prince Amyr has made a sacred vow to protect my husband."

Queen Neria waved her hand. "As sacred as the vows made by the men who will face the emperor on the battlefield by the week's end, I would wager."

Dijana look ready to argue, so Taeron closed his hand around hers and squeezed it to stop her. "My lady, the gods will show that the breaking of a sacred oath does not please them."

She sniffed. "We shall see."

Lady Arora was walking back to the table to rejoin her husband, but Meridon stood and bellowed, "Gracious lady, I have heard much of your skill as an imperial warrior."

"Imperial guard," she corrected him with an arched brow, reminding him that her training had gone beyond that of a warrior.

"Will you demonstrate your skill?"

She glanced from Meridon, to her husband, and then she turned towards Taeron's table. "My lord prince, would you and your lovely bride honor us with song as I perform?"

Since he had discovered that he enjoyed singing, Taeron did not balk at her request although Dijana seemed a little nervous. But she did not refuse and stood beside him.

Lady Arora came to Taeron and held out her hand. "My lord prince, might I use your sword for this demonstration?"

Lady Arora had carried the sword of the crown prince through part of her training, so Taeron handed it to her and she carried it back to the table where her husband sat and placed it before him. They shared a smile before she returned to the center of the clearing where she drew her own sword and nodded to Dijana who began to sing her plaintive song of love.

Taeron had only heard Dijana sing at the banquet when they had given their oaths to each other, and now he listened without the shock and joy that had disoriented him that night. Her voice was powerfully moving, and as she sang, the emperor's wife did the routine that Amyr had done, but she moved with the grace of a dancer, her movements as sensual as they were deadly. She spun her sword with as much skill as Darlac had earlier which was even more amazing because she wielded a long sword, not the two short curved swords that were favored by the warriors of Ulfynaeus.

When she came to the end of the rudimentary moves, Apolo hopped over the table along with the emperor who held the sword of the crown prince. Lady Arora nodded to Taeron who joined Dijana in singing as Apolo began to call the moves Taeron had, but it was the emperor who clashed with his wife, the ringing of the swords adding music to the song he sang with Dijana. Taeron was no less amazed than everyone else in the hall that watched Arora's skill. He knew that she had spent hours upon hours perfecting her swordsmanship so that she would not shame the prince to whom she had been bonded with her oath. But hearing it was far different than seeing the amazing skill and grace she used when combating the emperor's moves. No one could accuse him of holding back because more than once the people watching gasped when he nearly sliced into her flesh with the razor sharp edge of Taeron's sword.

The exhibition came to an end and Trey handed her the sword of the crown prince and stepped away to stand with Apolo. The entire hall was charged with emotion, and Taeron expected the people to shout and cheer again, but Arora held both swords up and she nodded to Apolo and Trey. To Taeron's surprise, they began to sing the battle song that Taeron had turned into a ballad, but now they sang at the speed more conducive to prepare for battle. Lady Arora began swinging both swords now as she spun and leapt with agility that the gods had gifted her with. Taeron could only hope that he had half the skill she had, and when the warriors in the hall began to sing with the emperor and his imperial guard, Taeron joined in as well. As they sang faster, she moved faster and faster, the blades of her swords becoming a blur, her hair flying out behind her as she spun and spun and when the song came to an end, she fell to her knee before Trey, her arms extended as she held out the swords to him.

For several moments there was silence and then Meridon's voiced boomed, "By the gods, Trey, this female is wasted on you!"

To Taeron's surprised, Trey chuckled and reached out to take her swords. "I have known that since the day she came into my life."

Arora frowned at him. "I remember it differently, my lord husband. Perhaps you have had too much of Meridon's ale."

He handed her sword back to her and when she was sheathing it, he snagged her around the waist and drew her to him to kiss her on the lips. The emperor had never shown such open affection for his mate in public, the female that was reviled in all corners of the empire because Dax had placed her in the Wastelands to die, and there was only a moment of awkward silence until Meridon laughed and pounded on the table in approval. His apparent blessing made the entire hall erupt into boisterous approval which only encouraged Trey to kiss her longer, and when she had enough, she twisted out of his grasp, using a move that left him flat on his back as she sauntered back to Taeron with the weapon she had taken from the man her brother was helping from the floor amidst the cacophony of laughter from the men and women in the hall.

She handed the sword back to Taeron. "I thank you, my lord prince."

He bowed to her, then took her hand to guide her gracefully back over the table, but she paused to give Dijana a quick hug and thanked her for her music before returning to her seat. Trey and Apolo leapt over the table, and Meridon bellowed for more ale.

Once cups had been filled, Meridon stood and raised his own, facing the emperor and his wife. "Let us drink to Lady Arora, the finest warrior in the empire!" There were shouts of approval and Taeron joined the others in drinking the ale although the brew made him dizzy. Before he knew it, the cup was being filled again because Meridon demanded more.

"Let us drink to our emperor, Trey of house Zeno!"

After Taeron drained his cup, he was sure he would lose consciousness since he had never been able to drink more than one up of spirits in the past. He was glad that the ale made him feel more relaxed, almost as relaxed as the time he had smoked weed with Shamara. He noticed that she was sitting with Chaela, the two of them enjoying the ale as well.

"To the crown prince!" Taeron was surprised the men and women serving the ale could keep up with Meridon's proclamations.

"To the imperial guards!"

Finally he announced, "Let us drink to all the houses loyal to the emperor and to their imperial warriors. May the gods guide their blades in battle and bring them victory in service to the emperor!"


	79. Chapter 79 Meridon's sorrowful tale

**Chapter 79**

The shouts of approval for Meridon's last proclamation were deafening. Taeron could see that Neria was annoyed by the exuberance, probably imagining that the feast would end in the drunken brawling that Dijana told Taeron characterized one of Balaks feasts. Because he had been to more than one of Meridon's gatherings on Ulfynaeus, Taeron knew that fighting would not occur among the men from the moon, and the imperials were too well trained to brawl so close to a battle.

When the noise had died down, Meridon set down his own cup and he looked down at Trey. "I will honor you with a story if you will allow."

"If I do not allow, will you tell your story anyway?" asked Trey with a smile as he slipped an arm around his wife's shoulders and drew her close to him.

"This is a story worth listening to, my lord." Meridon looked around the hall and his gaze fell on Taeron's mother who sat against her mate, her arm around his waist. Her head was on his shoulder, and her face flushed from drinking ale, but a contented smile curved her lips. After a contentious meeting, she seemed to have earned Meridon's affection because Taeron learned that they had spent most of the afternoon together.

Meridon looked back at Trey before he address the hall that had quieted to hear his story. "Many people do not realize that my mate, the beautiful and ever patient Caelitha, bore me only one child. The birthing was difficult and lasted for many days, and hearing of her plight, Yaral sent his son, Dax, to my village to aid. Were it not for Dax, she would have died."

Taeron was surprised that any story about Dax did not include a curse for Zeno's imperial guard and he saw Apolo and Arora exchange a surprised look. They had only known him as Dax the Demon, imperial guard of Emperor Zeno, but that man had only come into existence to take revenge on the imperial house for destroying his people. Had he once been a gentle healer like Apolo? Meridon's story seemed to prove that he had.

"Although he saved Caelitha, he could not save our child, and while he was saddened by his failure, I have come to realize that it had been the will of the gods that my daughter not live and that my wife would be barren from that night forward." Despite his words, Meridon reached up to swipe at tears that glistened in his eyes.

"Dax consoled me after the gods took my child, when I was angry that after so many years of trying to conceive, Caelitha lost the babe she had so desperately wanted. Many times in our journeys through the Wastelands we would run across the shriveled bodies of the females cast off by imperials as if they were refuse. Only a few days after my own daughter's death, we stumbled upon a female near death in the sands and instead of leaving the cursed infant, I risked the wrath of some imperial and took the child to my mate who instantly loved her."

Taeron knew that many older females in Meridon's camp had been abandoned by imperials in the Wastelands. Because of his willingness to foster females, Dax had taken Valerya, his sister and future mate to him to be raised among his people. Many important events would not have come to pass had Meridon not taken her in.

"My mate and I have raised scores of females that we have rescued from the sands," Meridon announced. "And we have provided families for countless others who were brought to us by imperial males who, after hearing of our deeds, chose to leave their infant females with us rather than throwing away their lives under the merciless heat of the suns."

"You have done well," Trey acknowledged with a nod. "I took my beloved Shamara into the Wastelands, but I could not leave her." He glanced fondly at his oldest daughter who smiled at him. "We are not all such heartless bastards."

Meridon put his huge hand on Trey's shoulder. "We cared for Valerya, the mother of your beloved mate."

"For that you have my gratitude," said Trey in earnest before he kissed Arora's temple.

"Now I will tell you of another female brought to our camp." He turned his gaze on Arora. "This happened on the night of your birth, gracious lady. A man wearing a hooded cloak rode into our camp in the Wastelands, and by that time we had grown used to such occurrences. When I went to meet him and to take the bundle from his hands, I knew who he was before he even spoke because of the power I sensed in him."

"My father?" Arora was as surprised as everyone else. "Why did my father come to your camp that night? Why ...?" Suddenly she gasped and turned quickly to look at her husband. "My father took your sister to Meridon!"

Trey spun to look incredulously at Meridon. "Is this true?"

"I did not know who she was. When we took females from imperials, no names were ever given, and Dax did not tell us whose child he had brought to us. He told me that someone would return for her in a few day's time and that he expected the infant to change the future of Calabria. He asked that we keep her safe until then."

"My father did not leave your sister in the Wastelands!" Arora was moved to tears and Taeron could see that Apolo was shocked to learn what his father had done with the emperor's child.

"Was the female my sister?" asked Trey in stunned surprise.

Meridon released a long sigh and then continued without responding. "We waited several days for an imperial to come to our camp to claim the female, but he never did."

"By the gods!" Trey slammed his hand on the table. "My father was a bastard!"

"No one will argue that," pointed out Meridon with a snort and agreement was echoed throughout the hall.

"What happened to my sister?"

"All in good time, my lord. My mate and I cared for the female although we did not know from whose important house she had come. She had dark hair and dark eyes, and she was a joyful girl that my mate and I grew to love very quickly. We took her into the hills with us during the warm season, and we did not see Dax again until the following year when he came into our camp in the Wastelands. This time he was accompanied by warriors that harried and threatened my people, seizing females old enough to breed, and when I met with him to give him the tribute for the emperor, he was not the man I remembered."

"When he took Arora from my mother's arms and left with her, her heart was broken to believe he would put their child in the Wastelands so that he could maintain his disguise," said Apolo sadly. "She never knew what he had done with Arora, and by the time he returned from his errand for the emperor, she was beyond his help. As she lay dying in his arms, he wanted to go with her, but she begged him to stay with us, to protect us. Her loss weakened him and gave Camridaeus the opening he needed to control him."

"Did he kill my sister?" demanded Trey and Taeron saw that Arora feared the answer so close on the heels of learning that her father had not left the infant in the Wastelands to die.

"When he demanded it, I took him to the babe, and the look on his face as he beheld the child frightened me. Caelitha did not want to let him touch her, but I convinced her to hand her over. I feared what he would do if I did not, so I took the child from my mate and placed her in his hands. At first as he stared down at her, his malevolence was frightening, but then he began to stroke her long dark curls and he spoke to her in the old tongue."

"He be-spelled her," Apolo said.

"Why would he be-spell an infant?" asked Arora in frustration.

"I have been be-spelled by Dax," Trey told him. "I would not wish to repeat that experience. He should have left her in the Wastelands."

Having had his own mind shreded by Staefyn, Taeron would agree.

"Only the child could say for certain if she preferred to be left in the Wastelands to die a horrific death baked under the suns to living the life she had been left." For a moment he did not speak as he was remembering the experience with the demon, and then he said, "When Dax finished his muttering, he placed her back in my mate's arms and left my tent without another word. She had been so still that I expected that we would need to prepare the funereal rite, but then the child let out a howl to remind us that we had been about to have our afternoon meal."

"Meridon, is my sister alive or dead?" demanded Trey impatiently.

"Your sister is alive and in this very room," he told Trey and many people gasped in surprise and shock along with the emperor. "Will you let me finish my story?"

"As long as I know the ending, then go ahead, but be quick about it." Trey was looking around, intently studying the faces of females. There were very few that could be old enough to be his sister among the women who had been serving the meal. None of them even remotely resembled the emperor or his beautiful mother.

"We raised the child as our own," continued Meridon. "But because she had become one of us, she shared in our misfortunes." Now he fixed Trey with an accusing glare. "On a raid that you led, one of your warriors seized her from my mate's arms and carried her away."

Trey slammed his hands down on the table, shaking with anger although Taeron could sense that he was feeling deep remorse. "I did as my father ordered, as Dax commanded."

"There was nothing I could do, nothing I could ever do to retaliate for the emperor's attacks." Meridon was still staring at Trey. "Do you understand now why I cannot forgive you for not ending that miserable cur's life? Caelitha could not bear to lose that sweet child, and when I had no choice but to move my clan closer to the sacred hills, leaving her behind forever, Caelitha lost the will to live. Her ashes are at the foot of the hills."

When Arora sobbed, Trey held her closer and for a moment he did not say anything, and then he asked quietly, "What happened to my sister? You must know what happened to her after she was sold into slavery."

Meridon put his hand on Trey's shoulder. "My lord, I did not know until recently that she even lived although she has not been far from my thoughts for many years. I remembered the future that Dax had spoke of with such hope the night he left her in my care, but the future was filled with misery, even more so when a child that I had come to love more than any that I have ever fostered was taken from me. Now that I know what became of her, my heart aches for the suffering she has endured but I am proud of what she has done with her life. I would be honored to call her daughter."

"Where is she?" insisted Trey and Taeron was afraid that the emperor was going to draw his sword on the old chieftain.

"Not long after Dax left her with us, we noticed that her eyes had changed color, that they were unnaturally light from his magic and her lovely hair fell out days later. We were certain she would die from what Dax had done to her, and while her hair grew back, her appearance frightened many who believed she was cursed. I think her appearance is what attracted the warrior to the small child, that the oddity of a pretty girl with colorless hair and magic eyes would sell for a high price on the auction block."

Meridon turned his head and he looked at Taeron's mother who was staring at him in confusion. "I recognized you the moment I saw you this morning, Yarala."

Taeron shot to his feet in shock, and Dijana would have been knocked to the floor if Amyr had not caught her. "It cannot be true!" His gaze flew to his mother whose face was suddenly pale.

Trey stared at Meridon, then shook his head in disbelief. "Larya? Larya is my sister?"

Sensing his mother's deep emotional upheaval, Taeron hurried to her as she pushed herself away from Apolo to stand. Coming up behind her, Taeron put his hands on her shoulders and he felt her trembling violently. When Apolo tried to grasp her hands, she pulled them away.

"You must be mistaken," she finally gasped. "My name is not Yarala."

"My mate and I thought you might be Dax's female child when he brought you to us to protect, and we gave you his father's name. We could not have guessed that you were the emperor's child." Meridon scowled now. "That bitch who reigned in Zeno's palace and does so now in the Guerani Hills must have realized when you gave her your name who you were. You were so young and could not properly say your name."

"By the gods!" roared Trey furiously. "She revenged herself on us all long before she turned Staefyn against us!"

Taeron's mother looked at the emperor for only a moment before she burst into tears and turned away to bury her face in Taeron's tunic. "Gods, Taeron, take me away from here!"

Having never heard the shame he now did in her voice, Taeron quickly gathered her into his arms and carried her out. She clung to him, weeping so piteously that Taeron felt helpless to comfort her, but he took her back to her chamber. When he set her on the sofa, she would not release him, and as she clung to him weeping, he stroked her hair and held her close wishing there was something he could do to lessen the pain he could hear in each sobbing breath she took. As long as he could remember, his mother had kept her feelings about her past locked inside, but now the door had swung wide open upon learning her identity.

Taeron suffered with her as she must be reliving every degrading act Xuxa had demanded of her even as an innocent child, knowing now that she was the emperor's daughter. Xuxa had hated Virinea for taking Zeno from her, so she had probably reveled in allowing males to use her child for their twisted pleasures. Taeron wanted to charge to Guerani Palace now and rip that evil female's head from her body with his bare hands for all that she had done.

After several moments, there was knocking at the closed door and he heard Apolo asking to come in.

"Don't let him in!" His mother looked at him with puffy, red-rimmed eyes. "I cannot bear for him to see me." She hid her face from Taeron as if she did not want him to see her either. "I have shamed my father's house!"

Taeron was stunned that she could blame herself for what had been done to her. "Mama! You have not shamed his house!"

She held fistfuls of his tunic as she sobbed against him. "I cannot face them after all that I have done! If Zeno had known who I was, he would have … he would have put me in the Wastelands and he would have been justified because I was a whore!"

His heart ached to hear his mother maligning herself for what she had no control over. "Mama, you could not have known who you are. Xuxa made you a slave and gave you no choice."

"Gods! I will bring shame on Trey's house!" Her wail brought tears to Taeron's eyes. He did not know what he could do or say to bring back the female that had raised him, the one that did not give a gods' damn what anyone thought of her. Now she was a shamed female who would have accepted without question her fate had Zeno put her in the Wastelands.

Arora was asking at the door to be let in and his mother cried even harder. After several moments of her nearly incoherent refusals to see anyone, the door suddenly crashed inward to fall forward onto the floor. Screeching with shock, Larya raised her head and Taeron turned to see his father stepping on the door to enter the room.

"What in the name of the gods is she whining about?" he demanded with his hands on his hips.

"Go away!" she snapped at him. "You would not understand!"

Lord Duo shook his head. "No, you are right. I do not understand how finding out that you have a family that loves you, that has loved you for many years, can be so traumatic."

Wiping her face on Taeron's tunic, she swiped at her eyes and pushed herself away from him to stand and face his father. "Because you are a gods' cursed bastard with no understanding of a woman's shame!"

"Now you feel shame, Larya? Only just now?" Lord Duo was taken aback and he laughed incredulously.

"I hate you! I never wanted to bear your child! I wanted Apolo, but I knew that he would never accept me after everything I had done to him, Arora and Trey. Gods!" Her hands flew to her face to cover her eyes. "Xuxa demanded that I seduce my own brother!"

Taeron's father gave him an apologetic smile. "Regardless of your mother's careless words now and the choice she regrets in making me your sire, she has always loved you."

She seemed to have realized what she said and she stared at Taeron in horror. "My son! I did not mean what I said!"

He did not have a chance to tell her that he understood because Trey stalked into the room, his brows drawn together, his face tight with anger. "Why are you hiding in here? Are you so offended to discover that you are my sister that you do not want to be seen?"

"You are ridiculous!" cried Larya as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "Why would you wish to claim a female like me for your house?"

"Why indeed?" Trey folded his arms over his chest. "After what you did to Arora, to me, I gave you a chance you did not deserve, and I helped you all these years, even though I did not know you were my sister. Long before you married Apolo, you became a part of my family through Taeron."

He crossed the room and fell to his knees before her, taking her hands in his. "You were with Arora and me when Staefyn was born, and Ginaela, Cerisae, and Caedriq. My mate loves you as the sister of her heart. I am honored that you are my sister, and I think that if Dax could have fought off Camridaeus' control to tell Zeno where he had taken you, he would have gone to Meridon's camp to claim you and you would have been the first princess."

Tears flowed anew over her lashes. "Instead I am the whore princess. Zeno would have put me in the sands like Dax did Arora."

"Larya, Zeno could not have done that. He saved Arora from the sands, not just the night he brought her back to Dax, but later when Dax put her in the Wastelands. Without Zeno's help, Apolo would not have been able to rescue her." Trey reached up to cradle her face in his hands, brushing her tears away with his thumbs and he smiled wryly. "Were you ashamed before tonight, Larya?"

"I was nobody before tonight, a child of the sands."

"And now you have the blood of an emperor in your veins. You should be more shamed to be the child of Zeno." He leaned forward to touch his forehead to hers. "Apolo wants to be with you. Surely you must know that your sorrow is causing him a great deal of pain."

His mother looked up at Taeron's face. "I am sorry if I embarrassed you."

Taeron kissed her cheeks. "Mama, you could never embarrass me."

She hugged him, then frowned at the mess she had made of his tunic. "That is one of the last ones I made for you." Her voice was wavering again and he was afraid she was going to cry about his tunic.

"Tell Apolo and Arora to come in," she said after taking a calming breath.

When Taeron left the sofa, Trey took his place and drew Larya into his arms. His father left the room with him, and when they came to Arora and Apolo, Taeron only had to nod to make them hurry to Larya's side. Lady Trynity had been waiting with them along with Dijana, and she spoke first as Taeron slipped his arms around Dijana, glad for the comfort she could give him.

"Well, that solves a mystery that has been puzzling me for some time now."

Lord Duo draped his arm over her shoulders. "What mystery is that, Miss Stryfe?"

"Trey's familiarity with Larya," she said. "I was beginning to think that a female that is frequently in a male's house will be perceived as non-threatening to his bond, but his body must have sensed long ago that she shared his blood."

Lord Duo grunted. "I suppose Trey is going to demand some sort of satisfaction for what I did to his sister."

"You mean what she did to you?" she reminded him.

"I suppose the chains did leave me with little choice. Perhaps I should demand something of him."

Trynity rolled her eyes.

Taeron's father looked at him. "Even by Calabrian standards, this has been an awful honeymoon for you. Take your bride back to your chamber. Stryfe just scurried away muttering about how much work he had to do, so he is probably already scribbling on his parchments in some lighted corner, Jeshed is with Yori in another room, and I saw Amyr with his sisters. So, you have the room to yourself for a few hours, but don't be surprised if Amyr joins you later."

Dijana made a sound of exasperation. "If he does, I shall kick him where he will feel the regret of doing so for many days! Maybe then he will remember to leave us alone."

Chuckling, Taeron kissed the top of her head, then lifted her off her feet. "Father, if you see Amyr, you had better warn him of my ferocious female's threat."

"Sorry, son, but he is on his own." His father suddenly pulled his own mate up in his arms. "I think I can find an empty room of my own."

"Put me down," demanded Lady Trynity.

Instead of complying, he tossed her over his shoulder which made her growl in outrage so Taeron hurried away before he would see his father fall victim to one of her infamous defensive moves. His father was a brave man.

"You would never do that to me," commented Dijana and he detected a note of wistfulness in her voice. "My mother claimed that all Calabrians threw females over their shoulders and carried them away. My father thought you would do it that day in the grotto when I told you to leave Teralon."

Taeron looked down at her, his step faltering. "Your father is a good judge of character. I wanted to do it."

She pressed her cheek against his shoulder. "I wish you had."

Bending his head to her, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "In the future I will not hesitate to do so."

With that he hefted her over his shoulder and headed to his chamber.


	80. Chapter 80 Leaving Edgeland Fortress

**Chapter 80**

Her heart was beating frantically as Dijana raced through the deserted corridors. She could faintly hear horns blowing outside the walls of the fortress, so she knew the army was already on the march. How could she have overslept? Why did Taeron not wake her? Now tears were rolling down her cheeks as she realized she might never see him again.

There were some men and women in the practice yard, warriors left to guard the fortress and healers who would care for any wounded shuttled back from the plains, but Dijana paid them no heed as she ran towards the huge double doors of the exit. She did not reach them because an arm snagged her around the waist and she was lifted briefly off the ground. Her momentum made her slam against a hard, male body.

"Hold, princess!"

She gasped when she recognized Amyr's voice. "Let me go! I am missing him!"

"Calm down!"

But Dijana burst into tears at the thought of not having a chance to say goodbye to Taeron. Gods! If he did not return to her, she could not bear losing him, not when he was the first person who ever truly cared about her, who loved her despite her shortcomings. She did not want to live in a world without Taeron.

Amyr pulled her against him, and she did not fight him as he held her tightly because his magic was working to ease her fears. But no amount of magic could make her forget what she might be losing this day. Yet she was grateful that Amyr calmed her.

As he held her, he combed his fingers through her hair. "You are a mess, princess. Did you even bathe today?"

"I slept late." She gulped back a sob and raised her head to look at his face. "Has he gone?" Taeron had warned her that he would rise early to organize the men for the march to the plains and despite her insistence that he wake her, he must have let her sleep. Dijana could not be angry at him, not when he was being considerate, not when he was marching off to war.

"He would not leave without seeing you again, Dijana, but he has tarried long enough, so he sent me to find you." Amyr dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Taeron needs to see you before he leaves, and his men will be bolstered by watching his mate send him off to battle. They are all leaving someone behind, Dijana, and they want to imagine that their loved ones feel the same courage."

Dijana did not think she could do it. "He told me that if he does not return, I should know that he died fighting and that I should tell our daughter of his bravery." She took a deep breath to keep from crying again. "I don't want to tell that story to my daughter. I don't want to flee Calabria."

Amyr gently shook her. "You will do as Taeron wishes, Dijana. He could not concentrate on what he must do if his mind is with his wife and child. Do not betray his wishes." He put his hand on her belly and she gasped at the evidence of life making itself known beneath his touch. She had not felt the baby move yet and she was surprised that it had reacted to him. "You have more to think about than yourself now. Taeron would not want you to become Kai's prisoner again." Dropping his hands, Amyr slipped an arm around her waist. "Let me take you to him."

His encouragement made it possible for her to walk steadily forward with him. The guards at the gate opened the wide doors for them, and when Dijana saw the sea of men marching towards the plains that Calabrians called the Wastelands, her heart began to pound erratically as she imagined them clashing with an even larger force. The battle she had witnessed from the window of her chamber on Teralon would seem like a minuscule skirmish compared to what would happen in several days when the men of the houses loyal to the emperor faced the army Prince Staefyn had amassed with the help of the Varoonyan and the traitorous house Caron.

The emperor's warlords rode among the marching troops on prancing horses brightly caparisoned with the colors of the their houses. Dijana could see Lady Arora far off at the head of the army riding beside her husband, her brother on the other side of the emperor. Taeron's father was leading another group as he rode with Meridon, and she saw the army of healers with Lady Trynity and Shamara seated on one of several huge wagons filled with supplies being pulled by gigantic creatures with long, shaggy brown fur and long tusks that curved out from their slobbering snouts. As they lumbered along at a pace that just barely matched the warriors on foot, they raised their massive heads to roar and Dijana suppressed the urge to cover her ears.

"Canyon beasts."

She had been so astonished by the animals that she had not realized Taeron had ridden his horse to her and dismounted. He put his hand on Amyr's shoulder and Dijana was surprised by the bereft feeling when Amyr released her to leap up on another riderless horse that Taeron must have been leading.

"I thought they were wild and dangerous," she remarked, glad for the distraction of what she had come here to do.

"Many wild and dangerous creatures can be tamed for a time." Taeron reached up to put his hand on her cheek. "I will return within the month, Dijana."

He had already explained thoroughly what to expect so she knew it would take several days for the emperor's troops to reach the encampment of the army waiting in the Wastelands, and the fighting might last days. He would not return until after the imperial army marched on Guerani Palace to retake it for the emperor. Although returning within a month might be wishful thinking on his part, Dijana knew that Taeron would do everything in his power to do so.

Her heart was banging against her ribs as she met Taeron's dark amethyst gaze, but somehow she managed not to cry. "I will expect you in a month and if you are not here by that time you will have to come to Teralon to find me," she told him tartly.

Taeron smiled and swept her against him, and as he held her, she closed her eyes and breathed in his scent as she burned into her memory how he felt against her.

"I would cross the frontier to find you, Dijana." His kiss was short and Dijana released him readily although she wanted to cling to him, as if that would keep him at her side.

Taeron swung up on his green and gold caprisoned mount, "But I would rather not cross the frontier again."

The humor in his eyes made her smile, and for a moment she could imagine he was not riding away to battle.

She looked past him to Amyr. "You will keep him safe."

"Of course I will." Amyr smiled down at her. "Because I would rather run to the frontier than to report to you that I did not."

She went to him and put her hand over his where they held the reins of his horse. "Keep yourself safe, too, Prince Amyr. You are a selfish and inconsiderate oaf, but I know that my husband cares about you. I pray the gods will reunite you with your mate, my lord prince."

He squeezed her hands in gratitude. "Gods keep you, Dijana."

As Dijana watched them leave, wishing Taeron would look back and hoping that he did not because she doubted she could maintain her composure if he did, Chaela came to stand beside her and together they watched them leave in silence. Dijana did not think she could speak anyway because her throat was tight and her jaws were clenched with the effort of holding back tears. The warriors that passed by following their prince saluted respectfully, and she would not shame Taeron by showing the weakness she felt.

A very long time had passed as she stood with Chaela before they were joined by Taeron's mother. Dijana had not seen her since the night that she discovered her identity. Once they had gotten a room to themselves, she and Taeron had not left it until it was time for him to leave.

Now the warriors who passed by them thumped their fists to their chests to show their respect for the emperor's sister.

"I doubt I will get used to that," remarked Larya. "I hear people call me princess and I think they are talking to someone else."

Chaela put her arm around Larya's shoulders. "Your place in our hearts has not changed. We could not love you any more than before the truth was made known."

Dijana looked at Larya. "Are you worried about Lord Apolo?"

Looking ahead to where he had disappeared on the horizon, she sighed. "He fought in many battles at Trey's side before I came into his life. I would be lying if I said that I did not worry about him, but I cannot think about it or I will go mad, especially since my son leads this army for ... my brother."

As Dijana thought about all Taeron's mother could lose before this was over, she was afraid she would cry again, but before the tears could form, the air around her swirled with dust and she was not surprised that her mother and father landed before them. She noticed now that the squadron from Teralon was passing by overhead, so her parents had stopped to make their farewells.

Neria hugged Larya first. "I am honored to have the chance to repay your brother and your son for their help on Teralon."

Larya reached out to take Dijana's hand. "I think you have sufficiently repaid the debt, Neria. Your daughter has made my son very happy, and she has already found a place in my heart."

Neria glanced at Dijana. "If I can judge by their disappearance these last few days, he has made her happy as well."

"At the very least he has given her a child," grumbled Roehan who then put his arms around Dijana to hug her. He whispered in her ear, "We will watch over him from the skies."

"I think my husband will be well-protected," Dijana responded gratefully. "You will stay away from the ground troops, I hope. I would not want to lose you after having just discovered you."

"Prince Taeron has taught me a thing or two about fighting Calabrians, so do not worry about me." He cupped her face with his hand and he met her gaze. "I am sorry, Dijana, for not trusting him. I do not think there is any man that I would find more worthy for you."

"I told you that from the start," sniffed Neria.

"I should always listen to you," he said, but Dijana saw the humor in his eyes and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

When he stepped back, her mother hugged her and held her close. "I am more worried about you, Dijana. I am convinced that Prince Taeron is impervious to injury. He is a god."

Dijana remembered the fight against Kai that left him with a wicked scar across his body. She was responsible for it, but it proved that his flesh could be pierced and Kai would be on the battlefield hunting for him.

Forcing away such morose thoughts, she looked at her parents. "Please be safe," she told them. A few months ago she never would have believed she could care for them so much, but she had quickly grown to love them.

They both hugged her again and after her father warned Guillem and Valter of the dire consequences should they fail to protect her, they left with their men.

Dijana did not go back inside the living quarters of the fortress until the last of the emperor's army had disappeared on the horizon. When the doors of the fortress had closed on them, Larya left so that she could communicate with her children on Dagmaeus. Her daughters and son by Lord Apolo were not old enough to fully understand what was taking place on the planet, so Dijana knew Taeron's mother would get comfort from seeing and speaking to their children. Chaela told her that Apolo had communicated with them earlier in the day to tell them that he was going on a long trip and he would not be able to see or speak to them for many days. Dijana's heart ached to imagine how they would feel should their father never return.

In the following days, to keep her mind off Taeron's absence, Dijana continued the training Amyr had started. Chaela agreed only to teach her moves that would not harm the child and Dijana was glad that Guillem and Valter joined in. Jeshed prowled around them restlessly, having given his oath not to shift into his dragon form unless there was an emergency. Yori sat in the shade of a tree studying a scroll.

Jeshed looked just enough like Taeron to keep him in her thoughts, and when she saw him with Yori, she imagined Taeron with their child. Taeron had asked her to name their daughter Caelitha in honor of Meridon's mate. Dijana was happy to agree, and because the woman had saved and raised so many innocent females, Dijana's mother thought it fitting. Meridon had wept when they told him of the honor. Caelitha would one day rule Teralon so his beloved wife's name would always be remembered.

The days passed slowly after the army had gone, even more slowly than those many weeks on Teralon after she had sent Taeron away. Much of the time was spent in the same manner, with Guillem and Valter ever present although they were less friendly and more dutiful. She had herself to blame, but she would not do anything differently if she had another chance. She had Chaela and Larya to keep her company. The two women had many stories to tell about Taeron in his youth, and some of the stories that Chaela told, Larya had heard for the first time. During those times Dijana saw the sadness in Larya's eyes at the memories of being separated from her son when he was a child. As she thought of her own child and how she would feel in her place, Dijana did not know how Larya had been able to bear giving up Taeron so that he could have opportunities that she could not have given him. He was the crown prince of Calabria now, but Dijana suspected that Larya would trade that if she could get back those many times that she had been separated from her son.

"If I had been the first princess," Larya remarked one evening as they dined, "Zeno probably would have forced me to marry one of those house Caron pigs." She shuddered visibly. "Gods be praised that violent swine Raemon did not bond and produce children. And I am quite sure Renaeld would have killed me within a year. He did not bond with any of his mates and none of them lasted long. Aside from Keilana's mother, they were all useless females who produced useless offspring for that bastard."

Chaela offered Dijana food from her own plate. "Try these. They are tasty and are good for your growing child."

"What is it?" Dijana eyed the shapeless food in Chaela's hand. Because Chaela had been eating it, she knew that if she saw it alive she would shriek.

"Sand slug," Larya told her and received a frown from Chaela who had been trying to get Dijana to eat their food for days. "You should eat it. It is Taeron's favorite food."

Since Dijana had seen Taeron eat all manner of creatures with gusto, she wondered how Larya had decided it was his favorite.

"Everyone likes sand slug," Chaela told her.

"I love it!" Yori seized a smaller portion from the platter on the small table in Larya's chamber around which they sat.

Guillem and Valter sat against the wall nibbling on fruit, but they were watching her to see if she would try the Calabrian food. Dijana noticed that Jeshed was eating the it without any sign of reluctance. "Is this food to your liking, Jeshed?" she asked him. "You cannot be used to eating it already."

"I lived as a dragon," Jeshed reminded her with a shrug. "You would not wish to hear what I ate before I took my human form and came to Calabria."

Dijana could not resist asking. "What did you eat as a dragon?"

Larya gave him a stern look, and for a moment he did not speak. But then he said, "I ate anything that could not get away from me. Out of respect for Quynn and Yori, I did not eat two-legged creatures. Since coming to Calabria, I have dined on various large birds, and once I feasted on a canyon beast."

Chaela's face paled and Larya winced. "Jeshed, I would prefer you did not speak of your eating habits as a dragon," she admonished him. "You certainly cannot imagine that admitting to eating a canyon beast would be considered admirable. They are vile creatures!"

"I am sorry, mother, but she did ask."

"How did you catch a canyon beast?" asked Yori, ignoring Larya's disapproving frown.

Jeshed glanced warily at the woman he considered his mother, and for a moment he did not respond, but then he seemed unable to keep from blurting his answer. "The creature is remarkably agile! I chased it through a chasm and almost slammed into the side of a cliff during the hunt. I eventually wore it down, but it put up a great fight and scratched my snout."

"Jeshed, I do not wish to hear about your snout," scolded Larya. "I can scarcely fathom the magic involved in changing to your dragon form."

"Some day, mother, I would like to take you for a ride upon my back," Jeshed told her.

She paled, but Yori cried out, "Can I come with you? Can we go tomorrow?"

Larya reached out to put her hand on Jeshed's arm. "You have given your oath to Taeron not to take to the skies."

He looked earnestly at her. "I will not, mother."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "You are a good son."

"I shall endeavor to be always."

"Some day, perhaps you can take me in the skies when Apolo can go with us. I will need him to keep me from swooning."

Dijana glanced at Chaela to see that she was frowning, but she did not tell her why until later that night when they were lying in bed together and Dijana asked why she was bothered by Jeshed. The handsome male was respectful to her and he did not approach her although anyone could see that he was smitten by Chaela.

"He is a dragon," said Chaela with a huff. "I have ridden on his back, and just because he can walk about with a pleasing face and form, I cannot forget what he really is." She made a sound of exasperation. "He has eaten a canyon beast!"

Dijana was glad it was dark so that Chaela could not see her smile. Her friend was attracted to Jeshed despite her reasons against it. "At least he will not change to another shape. Having a dragon for a mate could be interesting."

"I will tell Taeron that you said so," grumbled Chaela. "As for me, I cannot consider Jeshed. I know that he believes I am his fated mate, but it cannot be true. How could he know? Even we Guerani cannot know such a thing. He has mistaken attraction for something more and I do not feel the same for him. Sometimes he is like a child!"

Dijana remembered how Jeshed had eased her anxiety on Norvana. He was new to being a human, so he did have the wonder and naivete of a child, but she sensed that deep inside him was the wisdom and experience of a much older being. No one knew how long he had been imprisoned in the magical bracelet until Yori had released him.

"Larya has accepted him as her son," pointed out Dijana. "That makes him a prince, does it not? Perhaps your father will decide that he is a worthy mate."

"My father will not be making those decisions for me," Chaela snapped. "He said he might make suggestions, but that I am free to choose my mate. Next time I will be more careful, and that means I would be a fool to choose Jeshed as a mate. What kind of children would we have?" She felt Chaela shudder beside her. "Dragons? Will I have to fear my children will eat me? Will I give birth to an egg?"

"Weren't you afraid of the same thing when you came to Teralon?" Dijana pointed out wryly, remembering Chaela's fear that she would produce eggs that would have to be cracked open. Even with Avar's assurances that such a thing was ridiculous, Dijana had learned that Chaela was surprised that when Kaerwin was born, he was not removed from a shell.

"I thought all creatures with wings came from shells," she remarked. By the movement in the bed, Dijana knew that Chaela turned on her side to face her. "Are you afraid that your child will not have wings?"

Although she would never admit it to Taeron, Dijana was afraid that their children would be wingless. "Yes," she confided in Chaela. "On Teralon it is considered a sign from the gods that a match has been poorly made if a child is born without wings."

Chaela flopped onto her back. "I knew my match was poorly made even before Kaerwin was born. Kaerwin was the only good thing to come of my marriage to Avar." After a moment of silence as they both thought of the child who had been murdered by his own father, Chaela asked, "Will you love your child if she does not have wings, or will you believe that the gods did not favor your match with Taeron?"

Dijana reached out to take Chaela's hand. "Before coming to know you, Chaela, I might have answered differently. Teralon is near the frontier and many different beings have raided our planet, leaving behind offspring that are born with or without wings. I was raised with the beliefs my people have hand for thousands of years. If my daughter is born without wings, if all my children are born without wings, it will be a sign from the gods that they should not return to Teralon. But I will love them as much as you loved Kaerwin."

She felt Chaela's hand on her belly and after a moment the other woman announced, "The gods favor your match, Dijana. Caelitha has wings."

Although she thought her match was blessed by the gods anyway, Dijana felt relief.

Chaela removed her hand and sighed deeply and after several moments in which she could only hear her quiet breathing, Dijana thought Chaela had fallen asleep until she hear her mumble drowsily. "I do not want to give birth to a dragon."

Closing her eyes, Dijana put her hand on her own belly, and as she drifted off to sleep, she imagined a dark-haired little girl with wings propped on Taeron's shoulders. He would return to her and they would raise Caelitha together. Tonight she felt certain of it.

She was dreaming that she was on Teralon again, standing on the top of her mother's palace, but she had wings, spread out behind her and she was about to step off the edge to fly across the valley when a sound behind her disturbed her and she lost her balance to fall over the edge. Instead of flying, she was falling because she had no wings and she was plummeting to her death.

Gasping, she jerked awake, panting and trembling and Chaela stirred beside her, murmuring something incomprehensible in her sleep, but when Dijana was able to bring herself back from the disorientation of her dream, she rose from the bed and moved to the window that opened to the terrace. For a moment she stood still and looked at the distant mountains bathed in the light from the moons. She felt anxiety that she could not shake off, caused by her dream or her fears for Taeron, she did not know which.

Suddenly she heard distant shouts, indistinct noises and her heart began to beat faster as she was reminded of the Varoonyan attack on the palace in Nidum.

She hurried to Chaela. "Wake up!" she whispered urgently.

Chaela moaned and turned away from her to try to regain her sleep, but Dijana grasped her and shook her roughly.

"What is it Dijana?"

"I think there is trouble!" She moved away to find her clothing as Chaela sat up and rubbed her eyes. Dijana hurried to the door, pulling it open to find that Guillem and Valter were also awake. "Do you hear something?" Dijana was not even sure what she had heard was threatening or whether it had been the normal sounds during the night at the fortress.

Guillem moved restlessly. "I felt something, something unwordly."

Dijana was going to ask him what he meant when Chaela whispered, "I feel it too. We should go to Larya. Jeshed and Yori and with her."

They hurried through the corridors and as they did they heard the muffled sounds of fighting. Guillem and Valter stayed close behind them as they ran, and when they came to Larya's chambers, they found the door locked.

Chaela pounded on it. "Larya! Open the door, it is us!"

For a moment there was no response and Chaela pounded on the door furiously until suddenly it swung open and they rushed inside. But Dijana ran into Chaela who suddenly stopped. Without pausing, Guillem and Valter dashed past them, pulling daggers from the feathers of their wings. The bright light of Chaela's protection spell surrounded them and Dijana watched helplessly as Guillem and Valter swept down to attack the men in Larya's room. Dijana could see that they were thralls, their eyes blood red, and beyond them she saw Larya holding Yori to her as Jeshed stood before them with a sword to hold the attackers at bay.

Guillem and Valter fought ferociously, killing many of the men as they used the walls to evade the thralls, flying across the room and using moves that Amyr had taught them. They had no way of knowing how many of Warlord Kai's men had attacked the fortress, but Dijana's personal guards fought valiantly to protect her.

The door suddenly flew open as if a great wind had come against it. "Enough!"

Dijana's gaze flew to the man who had shouted the word, and another wind blew through the room driving Jeshed and Larya back against the wall while Guillem and Valter were thrown violently against the ceiling where they were stuck by some unseen force.

"Staefyn!" cried Chaela in horror and awe.

The man strode calmly into the room, and now Dijana could feel what the others had, the power that flowed off him. Tall and thin with shoulder length chestnut brown hair, he was dressed somberly in black. Prince Staefyn was unarmed, and yet the glow from his amber eyes warned Dijana that he was very dangerous. His gaze took in the people in the room, the dead men scattered on the floor along with those few remaining with their vile red eyes, and then he turned his gaze upward to see Guillem and Valter struggling against his magic.

Another man appeared in the doorway. "My lord prince, the fortress is secured. Shall we kill the prisoners?"

Staefyn did not look at the man. "Lock them away. As long as they are unarmed they are no threat."

After they had gone, Staefyn looked in Dijana's direction, his gaze falling upon Chaela. "Sister! You have no greeting for your brother?"

"Why are you here?" she demanded, her arms remaining out as she tried to concentrate on the spell protecting them.

"That is a very rude greeting, Chaela. Is that what you learned on Teralon?" He flicked his wrist in her direction and Chaela cried out, clasping her hands to her head and falling to her knees.

The protecting light disappated and Dijana drew Chaela to her as the other woman wept. "What have you done to her?" she demanded. "Stop it!"

Jeshed charged forward with his sword raised, but when he would have cleaved Staefyn in half with his downward swing, Staefyn evaded him, swung out his foot to catch his ankle, and grabbing his arm, he shoved Jeshed to the floor.

Although Jeshed struggled, Staefyn straddled him and with a quick movement, he grasped a handful of his pale hair and jerked his head up to expose his neck. "You should spend more time in the practice yard, dragon man."

Dijana saw the flash of light on metal and Larya cried out and stumbled forward. "Do not kill my son!"

Staefyn sneered at her. "Your son? He is a dragon pretending to be a man."

"Uncle Staefyn!" sobbed Yori. "Don't kill Jeshed!"

But Staefyn had not pulled a blade. Instead he clamped an ornate collar with purple stones around his neck before slamming his head into the floor to knock him unconscious. Standing, he rubbed his hands together. "If he wants to be a man so badly, he can remain one."

Ignoring him, Larya hurried to Jeshed and dropped to her knees to put her hands on him, feeling for a pulse and when Jeshed moaned, Dijana let out the breath she had been holding. Chaela had become quiet but she was still panting wildly as Dijana held her in her arms.

Assured that Jeshed was still alive, Larya stood to face Staefyn. "Your army is in the plains preparing to face your father's forces. What are you doing here? Are you so much a coward that you would not face him? Are you only good at making war on women and children?"

Staefyn viewed her with unconcealed contempt. "Do you think marriage to my uncle gives you the right to speak to me like this? You are, and always will be, a whore that someone should have disposed of long ago."

He raised his hand to strike her, but Dijana released Chaela and threw herself against him. She wasn't strong enough to do more than check his action, and now he seized her around the waist and dragged her against him.

"Ah! Very lovely and very lively! I presume that you are Princess Dijana."

"Dijana," breathed Chaela, her voice barely a whisper as she fought against whatever magic Staefyn used against her. "Get away from him."

"Sister, your strength surprises me! Alas, I cannot have you interfering. You should have gone with the rest of the family to fight. If you cooperate with me now, I will make this much easier for you." Although Dijana struggled against his strong grasp, Staefyn did not seem concerned as he focused his gaze on Chaela.

"Don't hurt Chaela!" cried Yori anxiously.

"Stay out of this Yori and she will not be hurt. Interfere and my spell my go awry."

Dijana could see that Yori was frightened, but he pressed his lips together and looked away. She saw the instant that Chaela lost her battle with Staefyn because she fell back flat on the floor, her eyes staring up.

"What have you done to her?" demanded Dijana, frightened that he had killed his sister.

"I have sent her to a happier time," Staefyn said with a grim smile. "Although she has so few happy memories of Teralon, I managed to find one that will please her, moments of delight with her child."

Dijana's heart ached to imagine how Chaela would feel when she returned from that memory. "You will cause her pain!"

Staefyn seized her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his amber gaze. "Your people caused her pain, princess!"

"Let her go, Staefyn," ordered Larya.

He looked back at her. "I cannot do that. I promised Kai that she would be waiting for him at Guerani Palace when he returns triumphantly, so I will bring her with me." His gaze met Dijana's again. "I hope you do not mind traveling with Cydeara again?"

Remembering Cydeara's threats the last time she saw her, Dijana doubted her trip to the palace would be pleasant.

Staefyn smiled. "Don't worry, Dijana. Cydeara will not hurt you. She is too afraid of Kai to risk his wrath." He glanced at Yori. "You will go come with us." Then his gaze rested on Larya. "As for you, Xuxa would like you returned to her as you are her property."

"I am not her property," snapped Larya. "If you take me to that old whore, I will kill her."

"That would not be wise. I have a particular need for her. I suppose she can be mollified if I tell her you were killed in the attack on the fortress. Sending your head back might please her."

"No!" cried Dijana, horrified that he would murder Taeron's mother. "Larya is your father's sister! She is of your blood!"

Staefyn started and Dijana knew she had shocked him. But he narrowed his gaze on Larya. "What lies have you been telling now, Larya?"

"Meridon claimed that Dax took me to his people instead of leaving me in the Wastelands," Larya told him. "They raised me until I was taken during a raid and sold in Imperia, purchased by that despicable whore."

Staefyn thrust Dijana aside so violently that she stumbled and he strode stiffly to Larya. Seizing her hair, he jerked her up against him. "You are lying, you gods' cursed female!"

Larya stared up at him, boldly meeting his gaze. "See for yourself."

For several moments they stared into each other's eyes and Dijana remained frozen, watching anxiously and praying to the gods that he did not hurt Taeron's mother. Then he seized her shoulders and Dijana saw his eyes glowing. Larya gasped, and then her body stiffened as Staefyn's gaze intensified. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Yori tried to go to them, but Dijana caught him, fearing what would happen if he disturbed what Staefyn was concentrating on.

Finally he released her, and as she sagged weakly to the floor, Staefyn fell back, and he stood breathing rapidly for a moment as he seemed to be trying to regain his own composure until Yori yanked his hand from Dijana and hurried to him. He grasped Staefyn's hands with both of his and for a moment no one spoke until Staefyn gently released Yori.

He reached out to muss the boy's hair. "You will be a great healer some day." Then he turned to Larya who had raised her head and Dijana was shocked that her eyes had become the same green as the emperor's and her features had altered slightly, but enough to prove that she had been born of the same house as Trey.

"I have removed Dax's spell, the spell the prevented anyone from seeing you as you really are."

She took a breath and when she spoke, her voice was weak. "How can you do this to your family? How can you do this to Taeron?"

His expression was grim. "My loyalty must be to my mate." He reached down to cup Larya's face with his hand. "But I would not make you suffer any more, Yarala. I risk her wrath by not taking you back to face her, but she has done enough to you for many lifetimes of revenge upon my grandfathers. When I leave, my men will come with me. In due time Chaela will return from her trance and the birds on the ceiling will be released. Send word to Taeron telling him that I have his wife."

"Must I come with you?" asked Yori. "Can I stay here and wait for my father?"

He looked at Yori. "I am taking you to your mother. If your father does not survive the battle, I do not want you harmed when the fortress is attacked by Kai's men or by house Caron. With the emperor's blood in your veins, you are a threat to their plan to seize the imperial throne."

"Do not harm Dijana." implored Larya, giving Dijana an anxious look.

"Her fate will be in Taeron's hands." He held out his hand. "Come along, Yori. Your mother will be happy to hold you in her arms again." When Yori took his hand, Staefyn looked at Dijana. "Come with me of your own accord, princess, or I will send men to carry you. I doubt they would be considerate of the child in your belly."

With that veiled threat, Dijana could hardly refuse to go. But she went to Larya to hug her first. "I will cooperate with them so they do not harm me," she assured her. "I know Taeron will come for me."

"He has to survive a battle first," Staefyn reminded her. "Even he cannot hope to defeat the army Warlord Kai has amassed in the Wastelands."

Dijana reluctantly moved away from Larya and after a regretful glance at Guillem and Valter who were helplessly watching her and Chaela who lay unmoving on the floor, she went to Staefyn.

"The gods favor Taeron," she told him. "You would be a fool to believe otherwise."

He smiled enigmatically. "I am counting on the gods."


	81. Chapter 81 On the march

**Chapter 81**

The march across the plains lasted for several days, a few days longer than usual because Taeron was in no hurry to meet Staefyn's forces. Amyr's father agreed with his suggestion that they not push their warriors, so they moved at a slow pace. While Amyr's nerves were on edge, he saw no sign that Taeron was anxious about the battle which lay at the end of the march. He often dismounted and moved among the men, many of whom he knew from his excursions on Teralon and Varoonya. As Amyr watched him converse easily with the warriors, halting their progress from time to time to demonstrate a move with his swords, Amyr doubted he could have garnered the loyalty that Taeron did with little effort. Many of these men were probably riding to their deaths, and yet Taeron's presence put them at ease.

On the third day Stryfe left the emperor's side to ride with them. His purpose became quickly obvious as he began to question Taeron about his youth. If Trey hoped to gain some insight of his rebellious son through Taeron, he would be disappointed because Taeron would not speak of his childhood with Staefyn. Stryfe did not seem bothered when Taeron steered his reminiscences away from Staefyn, and scanning the scribes cluttered, extremely cluttered, mind, Amyr found only a desire to archive the childhood of the crown prince. No archive could be complete without hearing of Staefyn, so Amyr knew it would fall to his inexact memory of delving into Taeron's past. He could not blame Taeron for not wanting to expose his precious memories to the imperial scribe. As children, he and Staefyn had clung to each other, the former needing support in a world that was hostile to him because of the circumstances of his birth and the latter seeking a brother's love that had been denied him by Amyr's selfish behavior.

After several days, Stryfe left them, but not before Amyr had sensed the scribe's insecurities. He should not have read his mind, but he had made it too easy and Amyr could not resist knowing the thoughts and feelings of his mate's womb mate. He was surprised that Stryfe worried less about Quynn than he did about Taeron, and buried in that worry for his brother lay the despair of the distance that had grown between them because of his position. Stryfe had been overjoyed to discover he had a brother, having secretly hoped for many years that his adopted father and mother would have another son. When that had not happened and Taeron came into his life, he wavered between envy and awe of his true father's son. He had dreams of becoming an imperial warrior, but he soon realized that he would have to give up his scholarly work for that dream to become a reality. Although he held an important position in the empire, he feared that Taeron saw him as less than a man, as so many did. Amyr could not assure him that Taeron was proud of him without exposing his unsolicited exploration of his mind, so he remained silent. Stryfe would have to find out on his own how proud Taeron was to claim him as his brother.

After many more days, the army stopped to make camp and receiving a message to meet with the emperor, Amyr accompanied Taeron. They found him with his wife at his side talking to Lord Duo and Apolo with Stryfe nearby as several warriors set up their camp. The scribe waved to them then crossed to the emperor to inform them of their arrival.

"The scouts have reported that we are near Staefyn's forces," Trey told them when they came to him. "We are close enough that we will have to sleep with one eye open tonight."

Lord Duo snorted. "The light from their campfires will probably make ours redundant."

"Our men are ready and eager to fight," Taeron announced confidently.

Taeron's father cracked his knuckles. "As am I."

Trey frowned and sighed deeply. "Then I suppose tomorrow I will have to face my son."

Arora slipped an arm around his waist and looked up at his face. "We will face him together, Trey."

"You will not face him alone," agreed Apolo. "If you speak to him, it will be with Arora, myself and Amyr beside you. I would prefer to have Shamara as well, but Dagan does not want her near the fighting, and he certainly would not want her near Staefyn."

"You speak as if Staefyn is a dangerous sorcerer," remarked Trey with a troubled glance at Apolo. "He is still my son."

"He is not the boy you dangled on your knee and gave rides on your back as you crawled around on the floor on all fours," Duo reminded him. "Whether directly or indirectly through the manipulation of the Varoonyan warlord and Xuxa, Staefyn has caused the deaths of many."

"You do not deny he has been manipulated," argued the emperor. He looked at Taeron. "You know that he has never had a choice."

"Xuxa has given him little choice," Taeron said, "but he has always had a choice, and yet he chose the easiest option regardless of how he would hurt others." If Taeron was thinking about himself, Amyr could not know because searching his thoughts was like trying to read a blank parchment.

Amyr could see that his father wanted to argue, but his mother squeezed his arm so he let the subject drop. Instead he ordered Taeron to gather the warlords for a meeting and then told Amyr to inform the healers to make their camp ready to receive wounded on the morrow.

"I will go with him," announced Duo.

Trey frowned at him. "Are you going to dally with that hellion when you should be planning a battle?"

Duo snorted. "You think she would dally when she is setting up her field hospital? I am not that persuasive."

"Let him go," said Arora with a pat on her husband's arm. "He knows the plans and doesn't need to hear them again as you relay them to the warlords."

"I would rather have my imperial guard at my side," he grumbled.

"You mean you would rather he not be at Trynity's side." Amyr laughed when his mother pinched his father so wickedly that he bent over gasping. "That is for being such an ass, Trey. I doubt Trynity has had to send Duo into battle."

"During the Cinq Kingdom raid on the Coalition moon base she did," said Stryfe with a laugh that earned him a scowl from his father.

"She wasn't sending him into battle," Trey said as he rubbed his ribs where Arora had pinched him. "She was getting rid of him so she could suit up to kill him." Then he added, "And the rest of us."

Apolo laughed and clamped his hand on Trey's shoulder. "You should tell us the tale some day, Trey."

"I would rather not!"

Duo was laughing as he swung up on his horse. "I will tell the tale some day. As the hero of the tale, I am eminently qualified to do so."

"The hero," Amyr heard his father mutter. "More like the dupe."

Amyr would have preferred accompanying Taeron, but he left with Lord Duo, and they traveled in silence for several moments until Lord Duo remarked, "You have not fought Calabrians. Are you nervous?"

Amyr was more concerned about keeping Taeron safe than thinking about himself. He could not afford to worry about himself when he would need to concentrate on his protection spell. But tomorrow the men he faced would be well trained and probably looking to kill him to take away one of Taeron's advantages. The warriors of house Caron would certainly target Taeron because he had rejected their female, and now that she was joined to Staefyn by oath, Taeron blocked Staefyn's path to the throne that they wanted for their house. Perhaps Amyr should be nervous, but he trusted Taeron has much as Taeron trusted him.

"I am Taeron's imperial guard," he told Duo after several more moments of silence between them during which they rode through the ranks of warriors settling down to rest for the evening. "I have had the finest training in the empire from the finest master. I would not betray your son by falling in battle."

Lord Duo smiled wryly. "Don't worry so much about betraying Taeron as staying alive. But I understand how you are feeling. I felt the same after completing my own training many years ago and found myself facing imperial trained warriors. I fought and killed in my own system, but from the cockpit of a killing machine, so I was unprepared for the man to man fight to the death on the battlefield against imperial warriors. But my training helped me to survive attacks that should have killed me. And there were times when Trey saved me, so don't imagine that Taeron will be oblivious to what is happening to you. If you want to protect him, protect yourself so he does not have to worry about you."

The advice gave Amyr something to think about. He might not have considered Taeron worrying about him. On Teralon, Taeron had no reason to worry about Amyr when Balak's warriors were so poorly trained, but here he would not only have to concentrate on fighting men he himself had trained, but he would have his attention divided with concern for Amyr. He would just have to make sure Taeron had no need to protect his own imperial guard.

When they reached the healers far to the rear of the main forces, Amyr made a wide berth around the canyon beasts although he saw his sister standing beside one, stroking her hand on its thick, hairy flesh.

"He was becoming agitated," announced Lady Trynity who had come to them. "Shamara thought she might be able to calm him."

"Him?" inquired her mate as he dismounted and went to greet her with a kiss against her forehead. "How have you come to that conclusion?"

"By what it was doing to that sickly gray one over there last night." She pointed to another canyon beast that had been separated from the others. "I am surprised you did not hear the female braying for her mate. She kept us awake all night until her handlers put the two together and the sound they made after that was twice as aggravating." She glanced at Amyr. "If Dijana were hear, she would probably give you some permanent injury after realizing how insulting it is to be compared to rutting canyon beasts."

Amyr laughed. "She probably has some idea after seeing them."

He turned his attention to Shamara, noting that the leg of the beast was twice as high as she was tall and that her touch probably did not get through its thick hide. The creatures and their handlers had been supplied by house Vaan whose mountainous territories to the west were rife with them. There were canyon beasts in the Guerani Hills as well, but no one dared approach their habitat because of their ferocious reputation. If a gigantic pile of their dung was discovered, warnings were placed to keep people from going too close to them. Amyr had once seen such a pile, and poking out from it had been a human bone, so he stayed as far from the carnivorous beasts as possible. The men of house Vaan were brave to capture and train them as beasts of burden, and he was glad that one of them was standing near his sister. Amyr was relieved when Shamara left the beast after a short conversation with its handler.

She came to them rubbing her hands together and then on her skirt that became befouled. "I think he will settle down now. Apparently his female is walking too close to the other male."

Amyr raised his brow. "You can read the thoughts of canyon beasts now?"

His sister laughed and put her hand on Amyr's shoulder, and he was annoyed to see that she had wiped the greasy sweat of the creature on him. "Hardly! His handler told me that they are very jealous males."

Lord Duo grunted. "I hope they do not stampede before we want them to on the morrow."

Lady Trynity frowned. "I am against the plan of charging them into battle."

"Charging? More like lumbering at a slow pace," scoffed her husband. "Only a fool would not be able to outrun a canyon beast."

"They are actually very swift and nimble," said Shamara. "So if you see one of them coming, Lord Duo, you had better get out of its way. They will probably charge once and head straight for the Guerani Hills because it will be impossible to catch them."

"If they disorient the enemy, then once is enough."

"My father wants you to prepare for battle," Amyr told Lady Trynity who did not seem pleased by his announcement.

"I was hoping he would attempt some negotiation," she remarked. "Staefyn is not irrecoverable and once Taeron defeats Kai, the men he has enthralled would be released from his hold. I have discovered that he must use a lobe of his brain to send waves to his …"

"Babe," warned Duo. "As proud as I am about you discovering what enthralls his warriors, there is nothing we can do about it."

"If we had more time, we could confer with the scientists on Bayman to make a distortion generator that could …"

"You are assuming the those men want to be released," said Duo. "Taeron told us that on Varoonya as many men wanted it as were forced. Being his thrall meant they had a boost in power as well as an elevation in status. I imagine dangling the hope of leaving the hills to live as lords was a good incentive to the Calabrians he enthralled. I don't want you treating any of those men."

She looked as though she wanted to argue. Lady Trynity was a healer whose first reaction was to relieve the suffering of others. Amyr hoped she understood that Kai's thralls were not suffering, that a great majority of them had been outlaws fleeing imperial justice for heinous crimes that made them all the more useful to Warlord Kai.

"And besides, that distortion soundwave will not have any effect at all on house Caron," pointed out Lord Duo.

She sighed deeply. "You are right. I suppose we should set up our field hospital then."

For the remainder of afternoon until the suns had set, Amyr and Duo helped the two dozen healers, men and women alike, set up the tents and roll out pallets for the wounded. Lady Trynity had crates of medicines already prepared so that her healers need not brew them individually. Amyr overheard her telling Duo that they would be able to treat all manner of injury, and if a warrior was beyond their help, she promised that she would ease their suffering. Amyr knew that would be a hard promise for her to keep, but he was sure that she understood the consequences of trying to use her weak healing powers to save a man's life. She had almost died once doing so and this time she would not have a creature with godly powers around to save her own life.

Once the healer camp had been set up, Shamara and Lady Trynity went with them back to the emperor's camp. Although he had pitched tents on the previous nights, there was no tent this night, and after taking a bowl full of food, Amyr joined his family who sat around the fire. He joined Taeron on the ground while Shamara sat near Stryfe who was trying to write something on a parchment. When he was not looking, she knocked over his pot of ink, but he did not notice because Queen Neria and her husband had arrived, landing gracefully nearby. Stryfe left his place to chase down any feathers that fell from their wings.

"Our people are prepared," Roehan announced with a respectful nod to Trey. "My wife intends to fight."

"Of course," grumbled Trey. "I don't think anyone can tell that female what to do."

He was sitting with his wife in front of him, his arms around her, and she turned her head to look at him. "And you think _you_ can tell _me_ what to do?"

Duo laughed from where he sat with his own wife, his arm around her shoulders. "I don't think we have ever met a female that can be dictated to. Why do we ever try?"

"Why indeed?" sniffed Neria. She approached the food and Amyr saw her lovely brows furrowing with disgust. "Is there anything on this platter that was not clinging to the underside of a rock?"

"There is some dried murkwater spider in my pouch," suggested Amyr and he exchanged a smile with Taeron when Neria's face paled.

"I am not going to eat murkwater spider." She lifted a shapeless mass. "Is this sand slug? I have heard much about it." She held it out to her husband. "Eat this and tell me if it is palatable."

Taeron choked on his laughter along with Amyr to see the look on Roehan's face.

"Neria! By the gods! I will do many things for you, but you have gone too far." Roehan took a step back from her and the sand slug in her hand that he viewed with revulsion.

"It has a nutty flavor," Stryfe announced. "And since these are roasted, you can imagine you are eating a nut, a very tasty nut."

Neria turned back to Roehan. "Did you hear that? Now try it."

He glared at her mutinously for a moment and then he snatched the food from her hand and popped it in his mouth. Amyr watched in breathless anticipation along with the others around the fire, expecting him to vomit, but beyond an initial gag, he crunched down into it, chewed slowly for a moment and after forcing himself to swallow, he held out his hand.

"I need to try another to be certain if it is edible for you."

Trey chuckled. "Don't listen to him, Neria. If you do, he will eat it all and you will have nothing to eat but murkwater spider."

Neria narrowed her eyes at the hand he held out to her. "You would not do that to me, knowing how hungry I am?"

He did not respond, so she took another and put it in her own mouth. After an initial reaction that was similar to her husband's, she finished it and they sat down together after taking a reasonable helping from the platter.

"I remember my first experience with Calabrian cuisine," remarked Lord Duo. "We were imprisoned on the pirate satellite and all they served us was what they found crawling or clinging in the nooks and crannies."

"Knowing you," said Shamara, "you decimated the population of what was crawling or clinging on the entire satellite."

Trynity laughed. "I remember it was one of the first things he remarked upon when we were allowed to be together again after our capture."

"Are you sure you don't want to try the murkwater spider?" Taeron asked Dijana's parents and Amyr was not surprised to see them wince.

"I will tolerate these Calabrian creatures, but I am not going to eat Teralonian spiders." Neria shuddered. "We shall save them for you."

Lady Trynity tossed a pouch to Neria. "Sorry, I forgot that I had some dried fruit and nuts."

The furious look they gave her made the rest of them laugh, and after a moment they also laughed. "I suppose I should learn to appreciate this food since my daughter is going to be living here." She smirked at Taeron. "I shall visit often."

Roehan chuckled at the sour look on Taeron's face. "That is an empty threat. Once we return to Teralon, she will be too busy to bother you and Dijana."

"Be that as it may," said Neria with a glower at her husband, "I shall expect my grandchildren to visit me. I imagine they will demand to be served murkwater spider during their stays with us."

Amyr was glad they were talking about the future as if there were not facing insurmountable odds of survival the following day. He could see the sea of flickering campfires not so very far away, but he did not look at them for long because he did not want to think about how many men were sitting around those fires sharpening their swords.

"Where is Meridon?" Trey suddenly asked. The old chieftain usually joined them, but this night he had not, nor had Darlac.

"His men have a ritual before battle," Taeron told him. "They will meditate this night."

"Meditate?" grunted Trey. "Are you sure they are not drinking their brew because if they are I want to join them."

Arora slapped his arm. "I want you sober."

Duo laughed. "That was a hell of a hangover at the fortress!"

Trynity pursed her lips and then said, "I shall have to refine the recipe."

Amyr's mother made a sound of disgust. "Don't bother. Refine it and they will only drink more. Just don't make anything he can smoke because I find that habit even more abhorrent."

Trey held her closer in his arms. "I promised I would not and I have kept that promise even knowing that Trynity's garden probably has some delightful plants growing in abundance."

They fell silent then, but in the distance they could hear men singing a Calabrian battle song, and for several moments none of them spoke before Arora remarked, "I do not wish to cross swords with any of the men who have served in the palace."

Although the house guard was changed monthly, Amyr knew that his mother made it a point to get to know the men regardless of what house had supplied them. She knew from whose house they served, their names, their own houses and all there was to know of their families. Because they had the responsibility for their welfare she thought it important to know whatever she could about them.

"There have been so many of them from house Caron," she said with a sigh. "Just like that night when Caron attacked."

"Mother," spoke up Amyr. "Do not talk of that night."

"Why?" she asked. "Does it make you uncomfortable to be reminded of why we are fighting the battle tomorrow? I will talk about it. The men who defended the palace against Caron and his sons were his own men, place there by Caron himself to make it easier for him to gain access. But they did not make it as easy as he had hoped. They had made an oath to protect me and kept it to their deaths. Caron was merciless in slaughtering them for what he perceived as betrayal."

Taeron let out a long sigh. "Oaths have lost their meaning."

"Perhaps only for house Caron," said Trey. He spread out his arm to indicate the men of their camp. "Those that follow us into battle tomorrow do so because they made an oath. They would all rather be going about their daily lives, but they swore to serve the emperor and they are fulfilling their oaths."

Arora leaned back into the circle of his arms. "You have made their lives better, Trey. There are many men of house Caron who have told me that they prefer living in Imperia because change has been slow in coming to the south."

"When we have dealt with this threat," said Trey with a glance at Taeron, "change will go swiftly to the south. I have been remiss in challenging house Caron in the past and have let far too many transgressions go unpunished. I will no longer overlook them. I will need a governor in the south to keep house Caron in line, if there are any left after tomorrow."

"There will be one left with a certainty," pointed out Shamara. "She is married to Staefyn."

Duo snorted derisively. "Married? How can she be married to him when he is bonded to another female?"

"Shamara is right," said Arora. "Even if Staefyn cannot bond with her, he made an oath as did she. Whether we wish it or not, Staefyn has brought Keilana into our house."

"You are welcome to her," said Duo. "Better your house than mine. I would rather have a birdwoman as a daughter-in-law than one that drops the temperature in the room when she walks in."

"My daughter is not a birdwoman," sniffed Neria. "We have wings. We do not build nests and lay eggs."

Duo waved his hand dismissively. "I meant no disrespect. You are a beautiful birdwoman."

"You seem to have a knack for insulting and complimenting in the same breath," said Neria with a glare.

"I have never heard anyone accuse my husband of having any tact," remarked Trynity.

Neria looked as if she wanted to say more, but Roehan stopped her. "No one has ever accused my wife and queen of humility either."

"Before a fight breaks out in this camp, I think we should probably get some sleep," suggested Trey. "I would rather not be bruised and yawning when I meet Staefyn on the battlefield."

Since there was no tent, they remained around the fire, wives and husbands huddled together, and while Shamara went to lay with Apolo, Taeron pulled Amyr into his embrace and they lay together under his cloak.

"Are you afraid just a little bit?" Amyr whispered to Taeron.

"I would like to hear that answer as well." Stryfe joined them and Amyr might have told him to leave if the addition of his cloak and body heat did not make him more comfortable.

"I am always afraid before a battle," Taeron admitted. "Afraid that I will shame the emperor, afraid that I will shame my father's house, afraid that I will never see those I love again, and now I am afraid that Caelitha will never know me."

Amyr felt sad at his confession, realizing that the child Quynn carried might never know him either.

"The fear makes me determined," Taeron told him softly. "I will survive the battle, and I will return to Dijana. I will not shame the emperor or my father's house, and I will not shame my own."

He sounded determined so Amyr believed him. Yawning, he flung an arm around Stryfe. "They will not harm you, scribe, so if I do not survive, I leave it for you to make sure my daughter will know who I was and that I loved her."

Expecting Stryfe to tease him, Amyr was surprised to hear his serious tone. "You will live tomorrow, Amyr, of that I am quite certain. But in the unlikely event that I am wrong, you may rest with the knowledge that I will tell your daughter everything there is to know about you so that she will not even realize that she did not know you." After a moment of silence he added, "However I vow to do the same even if you do live through the battle and I doubt you will be happy then. I have already completed a few scrolls that you might wish were hidden from her."

Hearing Taeron's chuckle, Amyr could not bring himself to be annoyed. "At least I know that you are honest."

They did not have a chance to speak further because Amyr felt a calming magic permeate their camp and he suspected his mother, Apolo or both of having cast it to put them to sleep. Before he drifted off on his own contented slumber, he took Taeron's hands so that he could fall asleep taking Taeron's worries away.


	82. Chapter 82 Battle in the Wastelands

**Chapter 82**

Morning came too soon and Amyr woke when he felt Taeron stir. For just a moment he lay with his eyes closed wanting to go back to sleep, to peaceful dreams of happier days, but Taeron rolled onto his back taking with him the heat that had kept Amyr comfortable during the night. His long sigh signaled the end of Amyr's rest and hearing murmuring on the other sides of their small camp, Amyr reluctantly sat up and followed Taeron to take care of their morning needs. When they returned, they found Stryfe wrapped in the cloaks and Amyr nudged him with the toe of his boot. After an initial grumble of protest, Stryfe also sat up, and seeing that his mother was taking her leave by holding her husband close and hiding her face against his chest, Stryfe went to talk to them.

By Lady Trynity's reluctance to leave her mate and Shamara's lingering hugs with her parents and Apolo, Amyr was afraid to look across the plains to see what awaited them. When he did, his stomach churned unpleasantly at the sight of the sea of warriors that seemed to extend as far as the eye could see. He knew that the force his father had gathered was only a small fraction of the one facing them. Even the swath of undisciplined thralls was larger than their own. He turned to look at Taeron to get a sense of his feelings, but Taeron paid no heed to the horde they would be fighting. He was doing a stretching routine, so Amyr distracted himself by joining him until Shamara came to bid them farewell.

She hugged Taeron first and she held him for a few moments without speaking before she stretched up to kiss his cheek. "Gods be with you, Taeron."

He leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. "Do not take any unnecessary risks, Shamara. And do not let Lady Trynity take any either, no matter who is brought to them."

If Taeron was talking about himself, Amyr doubted that he would be injured and if he were, their enemies would not stop until he was dead. Shamara agreed, kissed him again and then went to hug Amyr. They did not need to speak aloud how they felt. Shamara was not very good at hiding her feelings so he knew that she was terrified of losing her family, but he could not allow her to worry him. When she released him, she walked away without a backward glance to mount a horse to wait for Lady Trynity who now left her husband to speak briefly to Taeron before hugging Amyr.

"When this is over we will get Quynn out of that palace," she told him as she leaned back to look up at his face.

Amyr wanted to believe he would come out of this battle to reclaim his wife. "I am not worried about Quynn." At least she was safe because Staefyn treated her well in his care. Amyr was glad she did not see what he would be enduring this day. Her mother's daughter, she would insist on fighting and Amyr would be distracted worrying about her despite her fire magic.

"Keep each other safe," she said, encompassing Taeron in her gaze before she turned and headed to the waiting horse. Amyr had seen tears in her eyes when she looked one last time at her mate before climbing onto her mount and prodding it to move away with Shamara. Duo watched her leave as if drinking in the sight of her for the last time before he headed to Amyr's father.

Neria and Roehan came to them after speaking briefly with Trey. Roehan clasped Taeron's arm before pulling him close for a hug. "We will do our part, my lord prince. Do not spare a thought for anything but the battle."

Despite Neria's insistence in fighting, their most important role this day would be in fleeing the battlefield so that they could return swiftly to Edgeland Fortress to take their loved ones away from Calabria before the fortress could be overrun.

"I trust you will do what you must," Taeron told them.

Neria hugged him for a moment and then stepped back. "I do not want to return to the fortress without good news, my lord prince. Knowing my daughter, she will not want to leave."

"She will not refuse," Taeron assured her. "She gave me her word on it. Chaela may not wish to leave either, but they will be of great comfort for each other."

Apolo joined them. "Larya knows how I feel about her and she knows that she must return to the moon to get the children before heading to Bayman. She knows how much I love her, but I would like for you to tell her that my last thoughts will be of her."

"You should have gone with Shamara and Trynity," stated Trey who came to put a hand on Apolo's shoulder. "You are more healer than warrior now."

Apolo shook his head and reached up to put his hand over Trey's. "I would never let you enter battle without me at your side."

Trey entwined his fingers with Apolo's and Amyr could see the love they felt for each other, their lives threaded together as children, cemented with Trey's love for his sister and Apolo's for Larya. "I would be lost without you."

The Teralonians left and after a brief meal, Taeron went to his father as Amyr approached his own. Trey pulled Amyr close to hug him and he was joined in the embrace by Arora and Apolo. As with Shamara, they did not speak and when they parted, Amyr was confident of their love and pride in him regardless of the outcome this day. He wished he had more time with them, but he had a duty, so he stepped away to be pulled into an embrace by Lord Duo. He did not speak either, and Amyr fought the feeling he might never speak to any of them again as he left the camp with Taeron.

They joined Meridon's men who were getting ready to march to the fore under Taeron's command. Meridon was armed with a gigantic battle axe and mounted on a large horse. Amyr thought he was too old to go into battle, but Meridon had insisted because he felt responsible for what had happened to Arora after he had been manipulated by Caron. He had made an oath to Trey and he intended stand by it. Darlac told them that his father would rather die on the battlefield than in his comfortable tent on the moon. He had spent most of his life in the Wastelands so he preferred to become one with the sands with the beloved wife whose ashes he had scattered there.

The suns were both climbing towards equal distance when their forces were ready for battle. They had come close enough on the flat battlefield to see Warlord Kai waiting before his enormous force of thralls, his stance wide, his arms arrogantly crossed over his chest. To the left of his army was half of the warriors of house Caron led by Aevan who paced before his men, the warriors waiting calmly behind him while to the right of the thralls was the remainder of the house Caron forces led by his brother. Caerl stood nervously waited, shifting his gaze nervously to the thralls and over his shoulder to the warriors of his house. Neither male had blooded their swords, had barely made it through imperial training, and now they commanded a well-trained force large enough to destroy the imperial army led by the emperor himself.

Trey finally stepped forward with his wife and imperial guards at his side, Stryfe following closely so that he could later record the meeting, and when Taeron went to join him, Amyr stayed with him. They stopped half the distance that separated the opposing armies and waited for Staefyn to appear so that they could make one last attempt to dissuade him from this horrific battle.

For several moments no commander from Staefyn's army stepped forward, but then Staefyn appeared from the midst of Kai's thralls. Wearing black, he walked with confidence and exuded even more power than he remembered from his trance. Amyr shifted anxiously and saw that his mother and Apolo seemed agitated by the powerful aura of his magic. Although Aevan and Caerl joined him, Kai stayed with his men, his crimson gaze fixed on Taeron who ignored him.

Not acknowledging any of his commanders, Staefyn stopped several paces from them. "Father, mother, you look well."

For a moment, Trey did not speak, and then he said, "Your levity is out of place on this plain where you will lead many men to their deaths. What do you hope to gain?"

"I had not given it much thought beyond gaining your throne."

"You don't want my throne," Trey scoffed. "You are doing this because you do the bidding of that madwoman."

Staefyn shrugged as if he did not care, but Amyr noted that he did not meet his father's gaze. "She is my mate. Whatever she wishes, I will give her." He turned his head to look at Taeron, and he locked his gaze to that of his dearest childhood friend and brother. "I suppose offering to combat my father here and now is out of the question?"

"You will have to fight me first," Taeron told him. "And you would not survive." There was no regret or hesitation in Taeron's voice.

"No," said Staefyn with a regretful sigh. "I suppose you would eviscerate me as efficiently as you did all the assassins sent to remove you. I told Xuxa they would fail, but she refused to believe that you could be that skilled." He made a sound of disgust. "She blamed me, of course, for not disposing of you when I had the chance."

"You are my brother," Taeron said quietly, and the fact that Amyr could now sense Taeron's sorrow at being forced to fight him was a testament to how much turmoil he felt. "My most beloved brother."

For a moment Staefyn betrayed his own feelings, and Amyr knew this was as difficult for Staefyn as it was for Taeron. But Staefyn said, "I trained you to protect yourself against mind intrusion, so I would have no advantage against you. I do not regret doing so, Taeron." He gave him a half-smile. "It pleases me to know that we share a bond of blood of the house of Zeno, but that does not change what will happen. What will happen this day has been decided already by the gods."

Amyr frowned at the reference Staefyn had made of their house. Did Staefyn have a spy to tell him about Larya?

His mother stepped forward, and she reached out a hand, but it hovered in the air just out of reach of her son. "Staefyn, I would ask you to reconsider what you do this day. I am not afraid to die, but I could not bear it should any of my children fall in this battle. We know why you are doing this, and if you would just let us help you ..."

Aevan lurched forward, his hand going to his sword as he shouted furiously. "Shut up, you despicable whore!" Unfortunately, he was unable to draw the from its ornate scabbard, and Amyr saw Staefyn look at the house Caron male with contempt.

"This does not bode well for your leadership skills," remarked Staefyn with a twisted smile as he watched Aevan struggle with the sword. Amyr suspected that Staefyn had something to do with his difficulties.

Staefyn turned his head to look at Caerl as if expecting his brother to make a move against his mother, but Caerl hung his head submissively, clearly afraid to look at Staefyn.

Rolling his eyes, Staefyn turned his gaze back to his mother. "I regret what has come to pass, mother, but there is no spell that can turn back time. I cannot undo what has been done. I have searched for answers from the ancestors, but no matter how much I have begged them, they cannot help me change the past." He looked at Taeron. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know she would have killed me," Taeron told him quietly. "You protected me."

"I am sorry that I took something very precious from you." His gaze held Taeron's for a moment long and Amyr wondered if Staefyn was talking about Taeron's memories of their childhood together.

"You are in contact with the ancestors," spoke up Apolo, drawing Staefyn's attention from Taeron. "They cannot be happy about what you will do here today."

Staefyn's eyes glistened. "They tried to stop me from making the worst mistake of my life, but I could not hear them. Since then they have tried to guide me, but even they cannot undo what Xuxa did to me. They understand that I am trapped, and I know that because of my actions, they may abandon me, as they did Dax."

Apolo and Arora looked as appalled as Amyr felt at the thought of being abandoned by the ancestors. Since coming into his powers, Amyr could not imagine living without the comfort and magic they provided. His very essence depended on hearing them.

Staefyn looked at his father. "I am sorry that I was not a good son." He sighed deeply and glanced briefly at Amyr before continuing. "I regret that Amyr has taken my place in your regard."

"My sons have always been equal in my regard," said Trey. "I may have been disappointed in his actions, but I have always loved him just as I have always loved you Staefyn."

"Then I am even more sorry that I have disappointed you." He bowed low to him, then turned on his heel and walked back to the men behind Warlord Kai who had watched the entire exchange without moving. His men fell back to allow Staefyn to enter their ranks, closing in behind him and Amyr watched him until he could no longer see him in the sea of men.

Now the Varoonyan drew his long sword and held it with one hand while grasping the long golden braid hanging from his belt with the other, a revolting smile curving his lips as he raised it to rub against his face, clearly attempting to provoke Taeron. Amyr glanced at him to see his reaction, but Taeron did not betray his feelings before turning to face the emperor.

He raised his sword, the sword of the crown prince. "I will use this sword," he announced loudly "in the service of my emperor."

Loud cheering erupted behind him, and Amyr's mother pulled her own sword and raised it. "I will use this sword in the service of my emperor."

Duo and Apolo followed her example, and as Amyr did as well, his mother moved away, holding her sword high as she faced the army.

"How will you use the swords you have been given?" she called out to them, her voice charged with her strong magic.

"In the service of the emperor!" they shouted, drawing and raising their own swords.

As she walked before the soldiers, continuing to call out the oath, the shouts of their responses resounded and filled Amyr with pride to see the loyalty that she inspired. He wished his father would have ripped the tongue from Renaeld's body for the lies he spoke about his mother and about the men that served her to their deaths. The men who fought today fought for her as much as they did for the emperor. Over the years of her mate's reign, she had presented so many swords and taken so many oaths, and today so many of these men would probably die today holding the sword she had placed in their hands. But they reaffirmed their oaths now with thunderous shouts.

Attempting to rouse his own troops, Aevan finally pulled his sword, and his men pulled their swords as well, but whatever he meant to say was drowned out when the men behind him shouted in response to the words his mother's call. Amyr did not have a chance to wonder what that meant because Taeron yelled his battle cry and surged forth with Meridon's men charging with him.

Amyr was not surprised to see the golden light around Taeron, and it was like a beacon, so he was able to stay with him as he rushed headlong into the thralls with both his swords swinging, cutting through the flesh of men who no longer had wills of their own. He had expected Taeron to engage Kai immediately, but the warlord sent a wall of his thralls against him before disappearing in the chaos. Taeron did not try to follow Kai, but took down his creatures left and right, and from time to time they dissolved into dust while others fell away screaming in pain before dying under the blows of his sharp blades.

Amyr focused on staying with Taeron, attacking any who would try to come at him from the back. The chaos of the battle was overwhelming, the sound of men grunting as they swung their weapons, shouts of fury, cries of pain and fear, the ringing of swords as they clashed. He had no time to consider the fate of the men he slashed and stabbed, nor could he think of the men at his back surging forward against the army Kai had made. As he swung his sword again and again, he had to reserve part of his concentration to the protection spell that he projected forth to Taeron who frequently outdistanced him. He could hear Meridon shouting to rally his men behind him, but beyond that Amyr did not know what was happening to the rest of the army, to his mother and father, to Lord Duo and the men he led. As far as he could see, men were fighting for their lives against the mindless thralls controlled by the Varoonyan.

Before the first sun sank beneath the horizon, the seemingly endless ranks of the thralls began to thin, sooner than Amyr could have expected although many hours had passed during which there was no time to rest. He was becoming exhausted, both mentally and physically, and more times than he wanted to remember, he had lost his concentration when defending himself. When they began to encounter fewer thralls, the reason became apparent when men from house Caron came from the sides. Although Amyr stood his ground with his sword raised, Taeron surprised him by lowering the two he had wielded during the battle.

Coming to Taeron, their swords bloody, their tunics torn and soaked with the dark blood of the thralls, the warriors of house Caron dropped to their knees and extended their swords with the hands to their hearts. There were still many thralls to fight, but Taeron paused for the first time after many hours. He turned in all directions to view the battlefield and Amyr followed his gaze, shocked to see that the men of house Caron had turned against Kai's army of thralls. The winged warriors from Teralon were flinging their chakrams and fighting off any of the red-eyed warrios able to reach them by skewering them with the spears Taeron had given them to repel imperial attacks from the ground. Amyr could scarcely believe his eyes. They were winning the battle!

By the time the second sun had set, the battle was over and the bodies of thralls littered the plains. Amyr wearily dragged his feet as he followed Taeron who managed to find a portion of a stream that was not red with blood, and when Taeron knelt to splash his bloody, gore splattered face with water, Amyr fell to his knees beside him and dunked his face into the water. When he lifted his head and shook out his hair, he heard Taeron laugh hoarsely before he mimicked Amyr. Amyr hoped he did not look as bad as Taeron did although he could not imagine he looked any better.

Taeron then sat back and ran his hands through his hair before rubbing his face and Amyr could see that he was beyond weary. Now that they had stopped fighting, Amyr became aware of cuts and knicks in his own flesh that he had not noticed when he was fighting, and glancing at Taeron he saw that he was dabbing at a bleeding cut on his arm. As he suspected, Taeron had been a target, made even more so by the golden light that now dimmed and flickered out. His clothing was shredded and bloody, and his flesh was mottled by the blows he could not avoid. He did not know when his protection spell had worn away, and now he did not think he had the physical strength to rise and he certainly did not have the mental strength to heal either himself or Taeron although the wound on his arm appeared to be deep.

All around them imperial warriors dragged the corpses of thralls to piles which were set afire before they had a chance to rise again. The stench in the air was unbearable, but Amyr did not care when he was still alive. Neither he nor Taeron spoke and as they sat in companionable silence on the ground at the edge of the stream, Amyr fought to remain conscious.

"If I fall in the water, will you fish me out?" he asked Taeron.

Taeron did not answer and Amyr turned to see that his head drooped forward, his eyes closed. Worried about the wound of his arm and the copious amount of blood Taeron had lost already, Amyr reached out to him with a hand that was shaking, fearing that Taeron might be more grievously injured than he realized.

When he touched him, Taeron shuddered and raised his head. "We should make our way to the healers."

Amyr wanted to argue that he could heal him, but he did not have the strength to do either. "Our fathers are probably worried about us," agreed Amyr, but he did not move to stand, nor did Taeron.

"I suppose they can find us later," murmured Taeron.

"If we fall asleep here, they might put us on the pyres," remarked Amyr with a sigh.

"I would rather that not happen," said a voice behind them and they turned to see Arora standing a few paces behind looking as exhausted as they did. Her battle tunic was rent in several places and there was a streak of fresh blood on her face from a cut. Her clothing was soaked with the dark blood of the thralls and her hair was matted on one side. Amyr could see bits of bone and matter he did not want to identify embedded among the dark strands. She was a frightful sight in the eerie light of the moons.

"Mother, you look like you took a trip through the netherworld."

"I think you were there as well," she said with a grim smile. "We are all looking for you."

"Has Staefyn surrendered?" asked Taeron, raising his head to meet her gaze. Amyr could feel that he was anxious, worried that Staefyn had been killed.

"He fled the battlefield along with that Varoonyan bastard," Arora told him with disgust. "I don't think either of them raised a sword today. The males of house Caron are no more. Their own warriors turned on them." She put a hand on Taeron's shoulder and met his gaze. "They did not betray their vow to the emperor."

Amyr remembered how they had shouted before battle when his mother had invoked the imperial vow and he marveled at the honor that they proved to have in the end. "You are not badly hurt, mother?" There was a slash on her cheek, and while her clothing was stained, he saw only the dark blood of the thrall in his initial perusal.

"None of us is unscathed,"she told him. "Apolo is healing your father from a wound he took to his thigh which may keep him off his feet for a few days. Your injuries appear to be minor, but I think Taeron should have his wound cared for."

"I cannot do it,"admitted Amyr with a sigh.

She sheathed her sword and ripped a swath from her tunic which she used to bind Taeron's arm, and as she worked, she glanced at Amyr. "You did well in battle. Taeron could have been hurt much worse than this, so you have no reason to feel shame. I, too, am too tired to heal him. We will get him to Trynity and Shamara."

With light from the fires that dotted on the landscape, Amyr was shocked to see how far that had gone from the imperial camp. They were now closer to the mountains. "I don't think I can make it that far."

"Stay here," ordered his mother. "I will find horses."

Taeron caught her arm before she rose away from him. "Gracious lady, do not tire yourself further on our account. You are injured as well."

The cut on her face had distracted Amyr and now he saw fresh blood soaking the side of her tunic. "Mother!" his heart seemed to burst in his chest.

He lurched forward to touch her and when she tried to avoid him, Taeron caught her so that Amyr could lay his hands on her. Her wound, although serious, was not life-threatening, but she had already lost a lot of blood. For the first time Amyr realized she had been weakened by the wound and he did not know how she had managed to stay on her feet to find them. Reaching deep within himself, Amyr managed to draw up enough magic to seal her wound and as the flesh seared together, she fell unconscious against Taeron.

"By the gods," Taeron muttered furiously as he lifted her in his arms. "This female is selfless to the point of stupidity."

Stumbling behind him as Taeron walked in the direction of the healers' camp, Amyr wondered how Taeron could chide his mother when he stumbled as he carried her, refusing any help. They had gone nearly a quarter of the way on the gods only knew what physical reserves remained before Darlac came upon them leading horses. He helped Taeron mount and handed Amyr's mother up to him before he also helped Amyr onto a horse before climbing on his own to lead them to the emperor's camp.

Upon their arrival, they were greeted with shouts of mingled joy and dismay. Taeron took Arora to the pallet where Trey lay with his leg bandaged. Apolo was sitting near him, his hands bloody after laying them on the wound, and seeing Taeron with Arora, he made a weak sound of dismay.

Before his father could utter the grief that appeared on his face, Amyr blurted, "She is only unconscious, father! I have closed her wound, but she needs rest."

Although Apolo murmured a warning about his wound, Trey took Arora in his arms and held her to him, and Amyr heard him weeping, unable to control the emotion that burst forth. He must have thought she was dead when she did not return to the camp.

Lady Trynity came to them and despite Amyr's reassurances, she checked Arora's pulse, and satisfied with what she found, she told Trey not to worry about anything more serious than the scar his wife would have on her face and even that would be little more than an intriguing beauty mark. Before she finished speaking, Trey had fallen back with his eyes closed, still holding Arora close, and Apolo moved to lay beside him, sliding his arm around him so that he could twine his hand with those of Amyr's parents.

Trynity turned her attention to Taeron's arm and after she removed the bandage Arora had applied in an effort to stop the bleeding, she made Taeron wince by probing the cut. "I will need to stitch it. It is deep. You are lucky you did not lose your arm."

"Bring Shamara. I must have it healed," said Taeron.

Trynity opened her mouth to argue, but the determined look on Taeron's face made her rise and leave, returning with Shamara and her husband. Shamara dropped to her knees beside Taeron and put her hands on his wound.

"I see that you are not a god," remarked Lord Duo flippantly although Amyr sensed his relief to find his son alive.

"I never claimed to be," said Taeron with a snort before making an uncharacteristic sound of pain as Shamara used her healing magic on him. "Gods! You should have taken lessons from Staefyn!"

"If the coward hadn't fled, maybe he would have been of a mind to heal you," grunted Duo.

"I don't think he intended to fight," said Amyr.

"Now we will have to march on Guerani Palace and only the gods know what traps he has set for us in the hills," muttered Duo with annoyance.

"As soon as I am rested I will take the best men from house Caron and from Meridon's clan into the hills," said Taeron.

"Did Meridon make it through the battle?" asked Amyr.

"Nothing will kill that old man, so none of us will have to face Larya with grim tidings."

Amyr was as relieved as Taeron appeared to be. "Has a message been sent to Edgeland Fortress?" He was probably worried that Dijana might have left the planet.

"I saw a winged warrior land just before Trynity came looking for Shamara. I think it was one of Dijana's guards."

Taeron started and Amyr saw the alarm on his face. Guillem had no reason to leave Dijana at the fortress unprotected.

"My lord prince." They both turned to see Neria and Roehan with Guillem standing pale-faced behind them. Roehan had spoken to get his attention, but Neria came forward. "Shortly after we left the fortress, prince Staefyn attacked during the night."

Amyr knew what she was going to say before she spoke the words that would wound Taeron more than any blade had that day.

"He took Dijana away."

Amyr reached out to calm Taeron who had not even had a chance to react, but he froze when Neria continued.

"And he took your son as well. Prince Yori has been taken to Guerani Palace along with my daughter."


	83. Chapter 83 Guerani Palace females

**Chapter 83**

Since Keilana had come, Quynn left her room even less. Staefyn came to her room whenever he heard any news that he had from the imperial palace, and when he did, he spent many hours in her company and she suspected he was seeking refuge from the unpleasant situation he had created in his own home. He seemed to be amused by Keilana's efforts to usurp Xuxa's place in his house, that she did not even realize what the older woman was to him, but she sensed from what he did not tell her and his reluctance to leave her that Xuxa was not happy with Staefyn's young bride. Vaedra reported that Staefyn's women had gone from politely ignoring each other to arguing frequently, and sensing that the trouble between the two would explode, she warned Staefyn to stop pitting them against each other.

"Who do you suggest I speak to?" he asked her with annoyance "Shall I speak to Keilana and risk angering the males of her house? Or shall I tell Xuxa that she oversteps herself with my wife? She will deny her body to me. "

Quynn made a sound of disgust. "You partake far too often anyway."

"She is willing more often of late and I have a great need." Staefyn laughed and reclined on Quynn's bed. "Come lay with me. I need rest."

He often slept with her and Quynn could not bring herself to send him away when she was comforted by his arms around her, his hand on her belly. She suspected that he was communicating with her unborn daughter because the child moved against his hand and Quynn was flooded with joyful pleasure when she did. She did not want to give it up even though it felt like a betrayal to Amyr.

Now she set aside what she was eating, and after washing her hands, she readied herself for bed before covering the crystal lights to leave the room bathed in the light from the moons.

She went to lay down with Staefyn who pulled her against him in the circle of his arms. "Amyr would not like this," she remarked under her breath. He was warm and she was comfortable, so she did not spare too many thoughts for Amyr. She wasn't intimate with his brother and her feelings for Staefyn were not any stronger than her feelings for Stryfe or Taeron. If Staefyn had any stronger affection for her, he could not act on it, and since the day he had exchanged vows with Keilana, Quynn suspected he would rather be in _her_ bed.

"Does Keilana think you are with her?" asked Quynn curiously. "Did you tuck her into bed with a sweet dream?"

Staefyn laughed softly. "The dream I left her with is far from sweet."

She turned on her side to face him. "Do you feel no guilt for what you are doing to her?"

"Guilt for that house Caron female? Her father violated my mother and her brothers will lead their men to break their oaths against my father when his retribution was just. I hate the lot of them."

"What has Keilana done?" Quynn hated to be his wife's advocate, but she sensed his vehement rejection of the female masked his futile attraction to her. "Vaedra tells me that she is trying to take on the responsibilities that should be hers as your wife and Xuxa is preventing her."

She felt him shrug. "I don't care what they do, and you should stay away from both of them."

Quynn doubted there was anything she could say that would make Staefyn act on his interest in the beautiful young woman he had taken as his wife. Keilana was far preferrable to Xuxa, but he needed Xuxa, so he would probably never be free of her.

He turned her away from him and he began to massage her back, having sensed her discomfort even before she felt it. "I am leaving tomorrow," he told her. "When I return, I will have a gift for you."

"The only gift I want is my freedom." She sighed when he did not respond. "When will you return?"

"In two days." She began to feel drowsy so she suspected he was putting her to sleep, and as she drifted away, she felt his hand on her belly, her daughter stirring to greet him.

The following day she left her room after taking her breakfast alone, and she wandered the empty corridors. In her condition she could not escape, so the guard had been relaxed although the palace had never been this empty. She suspected that Staefyn took the men with him where ever he had gone, leaving behind just enough to prevent her from leaving if she tried.

She heard voices from one of the salons, and thinking she might find Vaedra, she entered the salon and regretted it immediately because Keilana and Xuxa were inside along with Vaedra who stood in the shadows wringing her hands as she watched the two women. Now that Staefyn had taken a wife, she was conflicted in her loyalties also Quynn could see she looked more anxiously at Keilana.

"I prefer pale colors," Keilana told Xuxa. She swept out her hand to indicate the bright red fabric covering the sofa and hanging at the windows. "I dislike such tawdry décor and intend to make significant changes."

Xuxa rose from her chair. "Change what you wish. You will be living here for a very long time." She went to the window and Quynn would have left, but Keilana noticed her at the doorway.

"Lady Quynn?" Keilana smiled at her, but the smile faded as her gaze was drawn to her belly. "I have not seen you since the day I came here."

She was probably wondering if she was carrying Staefyn's child and Quynn debated letting her think it was and decided not to add dry kindling to the fire brewing in the room. "Sorry, but I don't feel like socializing with my jailors."

"Jailors?" Her delicate brows arched and she glanced at Xuxa. "Is Lord Duo's daughter a prisoner?

Xuxa looked at Keilana as if she were an ignorant fool and her tone punctuated her dislike of the younger woman. "Lady Quynn is Prince Amyr's bonded mate. Prince Staefyn wanted her for himself, so he took her."

Keilana's shocked pale gaze flew to Quynn. "Are you my husband's lover?"

Quynn opened her mouth to deny it, but Xuxa laughed. "What do you think, Keilana of house Caron? She is a beautiful woman. Did you really believe Prince Staefyn cannot bond? He did not bond with you because he does not wish to give up his whore."

Aghast, Quynn did not even know how to respond to the vitriol of Xuxa's lies. Should she tell Keilana the truth? Xuxa was looking at her with a smug smile, so Quynn guessed that Xuxa knew where Staefyn slept and while Xuxa enjoyed the attention of other males, she clearly preferred that Staefyn suffer without her.

Keilana did not seem to know how to respond either, and after a moment she frowned and turned her attention completely on Xuxa. "I have been here for several days, and I have asked my brothers but they do not know how to answer, so now I will ask you, my lady. What, exactly, is your position in my husband's - now _my_ household?"

The smile Xuxa gave her was patronizing. "If you have to ask, my dear, then you don't need to know." She rose from her chair and headed to the door, but Keilana leapt from her own place and hurried to cut off her exit. Vaedra shifted, looked at Quynn as if she expected her to do something to stop the confrontation, but neither women moved. She wasn't going to get in the middle of a catfight and she would stop Vaedra from doing so because she did not want the older woman hurt.

Keilana seized Xuxa's arm. "You have not answered my question! I demand that you tell me who exactly you are and what you are doing here!"

The younger woman's fingers were digging into Xuxa's bony arm and Xuxa's lips were curled back in a snarl. Unfortunately, the women were blocking the only way out of the room, so Quynn was forced to witness this exchange. She wondered if Staefyn would be angry at her when he returned to the demanding women. She had not started this quarrel but he might blame her because her presence had been the catalyst.

"Let go of my arm." Xuxa's voice was little more than a growl, her threat implied. Vaedra took a step towards them but stopped when Quynn gave her a warning look.

Proving herself not to be as foolish as Quynn first thought, Keilana released Xuxa and Quynn winced to see the dark marks she had left on the older woman's arm. "I don't care what your position was in this household." Keilana raked Xuxa's face and form with contempt. "Whatever it was, it shall come to an end when _my husband_ " she emphasized those words, "returns from whatever mission he has gone on."

"We shall see whose position in the household comes to an end when he returns." Xuxa encompassed Quynn in her malevolent gaze. "A great many things are going to change."

Turning on her heel, she walked out, Vaedra following after a reluctant glance at Keilana, and Quynn stared at the door, feeling more fear now than at any time since she had come to Guerani Palace. She saw that Keilana was more perplexed than frightened, and then she looked at Quynn.

"You know what she is hiding," she accused, her voice remarkably calm for someone who had just been threatened by what Quynn considered evil incarnate.

Quynn was only Staefyn's friend and even that was tenuous at best, so she was not going to get involved in the fight between his bonded mate and his wife. Keilana glanced briefly at Vaedra who remained quiet. She did not question her so Quynn guessed she had already done so and Vaedra had wisely chosen to keep Staefyn's secrets. Staefyn should be the one to tell his wife that he was bonded to another woman.

Keilana looked back at Quynn. "You are the sister of Prince Taeron."

Quynn threw up her hands. "You are not planning to blame me for the choices he has made? I have nothing to do with his love life." That was not exactly true, but Keilana would never know how Quynn had pushed Taeron towards the woman he loved and had helped them keep their affair secret on Norvana. "I don't understand Calabrian males." That much was true. She especially did not understand Guerani males.

"I did not wish to marry him anyway." Keilana moved away and walked to the window where she fingered the garrish fabric, her lips pursed together in disgust. At least they agreed that Xuxa had poor taste.

"He is pleasing to look upon," remarked the other woman after a moment. "Very pleasing. And I was honored to be chosen to be his wife." She did not speak as she looked out the window now. Quynn glanced towards the door and wondered if Keilana would notice if she left.

Quynn took a hesitant step towards an escape, but Keilana spoke again. "I knew he wanted another, but I thought he would forget about her. I had heard that he values duty above all else and his duty was to marry me as mine was to marry him."

With a sigh, Quynn gave up all hope of escaping Keilana's presence. "Taeron does value duty above all else - at least he did until he met Dijana of Teralon. I have come to realize that we do not choose who we love because if we could, I would not have chosen Prince Amyr and Taeron would not have chosen Princess Dijana. The gods know my mother certainly would not have chosen the young man that my father had once been."

Keilana turned to look at her, her brows furrowed. "I have heard much of Lord Duo. He killed my grandfather."

"That was before my time," Quynn said. "I did not even know about him then."

"My grandfather probably deserved to die," Keilana told her with a mutinous raising of her chin. "My father certainly did."

Quynn was surprised by her statement, but then she did not know anything about Keilana and her house. Her own father was an imperial warrior, honored guard of the emperor, so she guessed he had killed a lot of men in the years he had helped Amyr's father gain control of his throne. Taeron had once said that his father's sword had drank the blood of many. It couldn't be any more or less than he had killed in service to the Cinq Kingdom as a young man.

Heading to the sofa, Keilana sat and she indicated with a wave of her hand to the empty place beside her that she wanted Quynn to join her. Although she would rather return to her room, Quynn reluctantly sat beside the pale female. She should have listened to Staefyn and stayed away. Xuxa would not like hearing that she had befriended Keilana, but she did not think any harm could come of giving Keilana an ear if she needed to talk.

"If you have been a prisoner, you may not have heard what happened at the imperial palace the night Prince Taeron and I were to have exchanged oaths." Keilana clasped her hands in her lap.

Quynn could not decide if this female that had boldly taken charge of the negotiations between her father's house and Staefyn was playing a role now to garner her sympathy or whether she had stepped up that day to save herself. Either way, Quynn was not going to tell Keilana that Staefyn had already sifted through her memories and those of her brothers to discover what they had not told him. Quynn was curious about Keilana's point of view.

"I hated my father," Keilana admitted as she stared down at her hands. "When I was a child, I often saw him beat my mother. One night after a particularly horrific beating that he forced us all to watch, she came to my room in the darkest moments of the night, and with the help of several of my father's warriors, we fled his palace, intending to go west to her brother. House Wattan's lands were several days away, and I remember my mother telling the men that we had crossed into his territories. She had been so relieved, and she assured me that her brother would take us in regardless of the repercussions. Wattan was a strong supporter of the emperor, so between the two of them, we could be safe from my father's wrath. But my father and his men caught up to us, and he did not respect the boundaries of house Wattan lands."

Hearing what Renaeld had done to Lady Arora and how he had boasted of it, Quynn could imagine what the bastard had done to the females fleeing his home. She knew very little of the houses of Calabria, but she knew that house Wattan was a respected house, that its patriarch had been instrumental in bringing the emperor back to Calabria.

"I will never forget what he did to my mother before he killed her, and he forced the warriors to watch him and my brothers abuse her before he cut off their heads." She was trembling as she spoke, so Quynn was sure that what she told her had really happened and that she had been traumatized by it.

"I was frightened when Prince Taeron spoke his oath to another female at my oath ceremony, because my father had made it clear that I had only one use to him and I knew he would kill me."

After what Keilana had witnessed as a child, Quynn could understand how terrified she had been of what her father would do to her.

"I could not believe that my father had the audacity to threaten gracious Lady Arora, and when he boasted of what he had done to her, I remember what he had done to my mother." She was trembling with emotion. "I prayed to the gods to give him what he had well and truly earned."

Wondering if she was going to regret it, Quynn reached put a comforting hand over Keilana's. "I understand." Quynn had felt the same when she learned what Camridaeus had done to her mother. Despite knowing that he could not be blamed, Quynn could not forgive Quatre Winner, no matter how much money he threw at charities to atone for his agregious behavior when being controlled by the parasitic entity. She would rather see him punished even though she rationally knew he could not control Camridaeus.

"My brothers looked away when the emperor beat my father," Keilana told her. "He was so brutal, and there was so much blood, but I watched it all. I thanked the gods for every blow he gave him, and for me, it ended too soon."

Quynn was not shocked that Keilana reveled in the manner of her father's death. "I think I would have felt the same," she admitted. No female deserved what Renaeld of house Caron had done to them.

"I wanted to throw myself on the mercy of the emperor that night." She twisted her hands on her lap. "But my brothers forced me to go with them, and they told me that the only way they would allow me to live after my failure to wed the crown prince was to exchange vows with Prince Staefyn."

Her boldness was not so surprising anymore. What did surprise Quynn was Staefyn's lack of sympathy for her, but given her own feelings towards Quatre Winner, she understood how he could judge her as guilty as the rest of her family.

"Now I am married to a male that ignores me in the day and comes to me in the dark of night after I have fallen asleep. I have no power in his house, not when everyone defers to that disgusting female. Even you do not challenge her."

She may feel sorry for Keilana, but Quynn would not betray Staefyn. "I am not Staefyn's lover and this is not his child. His warlord brought me here because Staefyn wanted to keep me from his brother. I am Amyr's wife and this is his child. I do not challenge Xuxa because I am what I told you and nothing more. I am a prisoner." She did not tell her that Xuxa had promised her child to Staefyn, that Xuxa probably intended to throw Quynn off the terrace into the deep canyon over which the palace perched once she had given birth. Keilana's fate was probably not so far removed from her own when Staefyn secured his rule and no longer had a need for the house Caron female.

"You do not deny that he cares for you," Keilana persisted. "I do not want to return to my brothers, to live in that house. Until I came to the imperial city, I did not believe the stories the warriors told of the emperor's household, of his city and the lands that he rules. The males of my house entertain themselves by purchasing females and using them until they grow bored and then I never see them again. But the females of house Trey are treated with respect, even those that serve in his palace. The only males that I saw mistreating them were from my own house."

From what Quynn had learned of Calabria, she described the typical life of a female under the rulers that had come before Trey. Her mother hypothesized that there were far fewer males in the evolution of the plains people of Calabria that the females had evolved to tie the males to them with their blood to protect them and provide for their children. She theorized that at some point in the past when males had become more numerous, they balked against the females controlling them, and so they had begun to persecute them, using them only for breeding before discarding them and their female offspring. Whatever the reason, Zeno had begun the change by keeping first Xuxa and then Virinea, but his son had caused an upheaval by refusing to leave Shamara in the sands and openly showing his love for his wife. But there were still places on the planet where males resisted the emperor's decrees concerning the practice of slavery and treatment of females.

"I believed everything the males of my house told me about the females, that Lady Arora had been publically shamed by her own father, that Lady Larya had been a slave whose only purpose was to give pleasure to males and that she had done it many times. That Lady Trynity …."

"I would rather you not repeat what you heard about my mother." Quynn withdrew her hand from Keilana's. "My mother is a learned woman who has earned respect with her healing skills. The males of your house are rotten bastards to say anything against her. I know that she was raped by Lord Dax, that Camridaeus kept her as a slave. She did not deserve any of that. No woman would."

Keilana was quiet for a moment as she considered what Quynn said, and Quynn decided she had enough of the morose female's company. What she had told her made her feel uneasy about her future on Calabria when a battle would soon be fought to determine what path its future would take. If the emperor did not prevail, Quynn would know that the males of her house would be dead and her mother as well because she would put aside her healing potions to take up a weapon. Staefyn would take Yori as his son and when her daughter was born, he would have no more use for her either despite his kindness to her. She was naught but the female that bore the children he would claim as his own.

"I am sorry, Lady Quynn, if I upset you," said Keilana as she turned her pale blue eyes to look at Quynn's face. "I meant to tell you that the females were courteous to me even though I now realize none of them expected me to marry Prince Taeron. They could have rejected me, and while I realize they may only have been acting, it was the most kindness I have felt since I was torn from my mother's arms."

Although Quynn planned to leave, it was Keilana that rose and headed to the door. For the first few paces, her shoulders were slumped, but before she had reached the door, she stiffened her spine, squared her shoulders and walked out as if she were preparing for battle.

Her brief foray from her room had taught Quynn a lesson, and that was to stay in her room. When she returned to it now, she found Xuxa waiting for her. She stood holding Staefyn's tunic in her hand and Quynn saw Vaedra cringing and covering her face as she squatted in the corner. Had she hit the woman again, somehow blaming her for Staefyn's actions? The stones at her neck grew warm before Quynn took several calming breaths to cool them.

"I see that you have been entertaining my mate," said the old woman tersely. She tossed the tunic at Quynn, but it fell short at her feet.

Quynn looked at the tunic, glanced at Vaedra who was trembling with fear, and then she looked at Xuxa. "I don't recall inviting you to my room. Vaedra, will you bring me something to eat and drink." She did not speak again until the serving woman had scurried from the room and Quynn had seen the swelling on her face so she knew that Xuxa had struck her. Gods, she wanted to break every bone in her body for hurting the harmless serving woman.

"I do not need your invitation." Xuxa came near Quynn and she resisted the urge to stumble back away from her. She wasn't afraid of her, but she wasn't alone anymore. She had to protect her child from this monster. "What do you think will come of seducing my mate? He will never turn away from me, and when that child is born, we will have no use for you. Very soon Prince Amyr will be dead along with the rest of those gods' cursed bastards of house Zeno and house Dax."

"Aren't you forgetting about Prince Staefyn?" asked Quynn with the raise of her brow.

Xuxa walked past her, but she paused when she was beside Quynn. "Like you, he has his use and one day I will no longer need him either." She then left and Quynn blew out her breath. Staefyn could not return soon enough.

She remained in her room and Keilana had come once to speak to her, but Quynn feigned illness, blaming it on her pregnancy and since Keilana had no experience at all with breeding women, she hurried away to find Vaedra to attend to her. Vaedra had rushed to her imagining something had happened to her or the child and when she arrived to find nothing wrong, she was exasperated. She told Quynn that she was now expected to serve Lady Keilana, that Keilana pestered her with questions for which Vaedra either had no answers or did not want to answer.

"I had a daughter," Vaedra confessed to Quynn who was surprised. "Her father was an imperial and after he took her to the Wastelands, he beat me and turned me out of his house. I was captured and sold in the market to a male that worked me nigh to death waiting on the males of his house, and the females that came and went with the frequency of the seasons."

Quynn had not known about Vaedra's past, only that Staefyn had helped her. "When Prince Trey returned, his house rebelled against his rule and they were all killed, and I fled to the hills with the other slaves. I found a place among one of the tribes, and I was happy among them for many years until I fell ill. I left them to die, and that is when Prince Staefyn found me."

There were tears in Vaedra's eyes. "Seeing Lady Keilana makes me wonder what my daughter would have been like even though I have always been glad that she had been spared by the death her sire had given her."

Quynn could not imagine feeling the same for her own daughter, so she realized that she was unable to fathom how awful life on Calabria had been for females if they thought death was preferable for their daughters. Her mother had told her that Lady Arora had accepted Shamara's fate long before she placed her infant in her father's hands to dispose of her.

"Lady Xuxa is worse than any male that I have ever encountered," Vaedra told her softly. "I don't want her to hurt Lady Keilana."

Quynn assured Vaedra that she would talk to Staefyn when he returned although she had resolved not to become involved in the discord of his house.

The following day, Vaedra hurried into her room to tell her that the transport shuttle had landed and that Prince Staefyn had returned with more guests. Not knowing what to expect from him, she was at least curious about his gift and an influx of newcomers meant she would not be trapped between the two females. She hurried to the entrance hall where she found Xuxa waiting with Keilana, the two women standing far apart. Deciding that she disliked Xuxa far more than she did Keilana, Quynn went to stand with the younger woman.

Keilana did not look at her as she stared at the entrance. "I have already heard that he has brought more women. He lied to me, didn't he? He can bond, but he chose not to bond with me." She turned to look at Quynn for confirmation and when Quynn did not respond, she sighed and looked back at the doorway. "If I must accept his concubines …."

She did not finish her thought because a woman walked through the door that struck her silent. At first Quynn did not know who the beautiful, golden-haired female was and wondered if Staefyn was collecting females to look upon even if he could not touch them, but when she looked directly at her, Quynn was shocked to recognize her.

"Princess Dijana," hissed Keilana. "I am to share my mate with her?!"

Quynn seized her wrist before she could move forward. "You are ridiculous! Can't you see that she is a prisoner?"

Dijana looked frightened and hesitated to move any further into the room, and behind her came another woman who was dark-haired and darker skinned like Warlord Kai. She shoved Dijana forward, and then Staefyn walked in and Quynn was both overjoyed and horrified to see that he carried Yori propped on his hip.

"Mama!" cried out Yori, and Staefyn released him to dash to her. She did not want to think about what his presence coupled with Dijana's meant as she hugged him close, blinking away tears for the happiness she felt at having her son in her arms.

Yori whispered in her ear, "Papa is alive. They have not yet reached the battlefield."

Quynn kissed him again and again, grateful that he could read her thoughts and feelings so that he could put her at ease. She rose, and keeping her hand on Yori's shoulder, she found Staefyn standing before her. "You did not harm anyone?" Glancing past him, she saw Keilana glaring at Dijana and Dijana stood holding her hands clasped over her belly.

"I met with little resistance at Edgeland Fortress, at least none that I could not handle with the thralls I took with me."

"You did not answer my question," she pointed out. "Who remained at the fortress to guard my son, to oversee Princess Dijana?" She squeezed Yori's shoulder. "Who was watching over you?"

"Jeshed," Yori told her. "My uncle stopped him with a spell and put a collar around his neck."

Her hand flew the collar around her own neck and Quynn met Staefyn's gaze. "What did you do to him?" After being trapped in the bracelet, she did not want to imagine how Jeshed felt about this new form of slavery.

"I did not kill him,"he pointed out. "He cannot use his magic, so we will not be bothered by any fire-breathing dragons."

"He did not harm Princess Chaela or Princess Larya," said Yori.

Princess Larya? Quynn had no chance to question Staefyn because Xuxa stalked to them, her face a mask of fury.

"That whore is no princess! She is my slave! Why did you not bring her back as I demanded? Could you not at least have brought me her head?"

Yori moved behind Quynn to hide from Xuxa and Quynn took steps away from her as she came to Staefyn. Xuxa seized a handful of his hair and jerked his head down to hers. "Answer me!"

Staefyn surprised Quynn by putting his hand around Xuxa's bony, thin neck and she released his hair to claw at his hand as he leaned down to look into her eyes, his own glowing dangerously. "You did not tell me that Larya was my father's sister."

Quynn gasped in surprise, and Xuxa could not respond, could not breathe. Yori trembled as he clung to Quynn, probably fearing that Staefyn would risk the wrath of the ancestors by killing his mate.

"Did you know when you treated her worse than the lowest dog that my grandfather saved her, that she was Zeno's blood?"

Quynn knew that he did not expect an answer, and even from a few steps away, she could see the golden glow of his eyes as he probed her mind. Xuxa had ceased to struggle and Quynn recognized the blank stare, the same blank stare that Taeron had when Staefyn had dug into his mind, rearranging his memories. When he finished, he released his hold on her neck and drew her gasping and writhing against him.

"You monstrous bitch!" he snarled, but he buried his face against her neck, and as he brushed the dark marks his fingers had made with his lips, they healed and she arched against him with a cry of pleasure. She sobbed his name and he pulled her up in his arms to carry her from the hall.

A gasp made Quynn turn to see Keilana's face, stricken with the horror of understanding Xuxa's place in her husband's house. She thought about going to her, to comfort her, but she went to Dijana instead and when she reached out for her, the Varoonyan woman hurried to block her.

"She is my prisoner!" She seized Dijana's arm and roughly pulled her back. Dijana did not struggle and Quynn guessed the reason by the protective arm she put before her belly. Quynn hoped she could find out what had happened on Teralon.

"Let her go," demanded Quynn, hoping she sounded like she had more authority than she actually did. She deduced that the Varoonyan was Princess Cydeara and that Staefyn had brought Dijana to Guerani Palace to hand over to Kai as a reward.

"I told you, she is my prisoner! I brought her to Calabria for my husband."

Quynn wondered if it was common practice on Varoonya for wives to procure females for their husbands. Since Cydeara did not feel compelled to follow Quynn's order, there was nothing more she could do and she felt sick to her stomach to know that her brother's wife would be in the Varoonyan female's power.

But Keilana had gathered her wits and she came to them. "Release Princess Dijana at once!"

Cydeara glared at her. "Who are you?"

"I am Prince Staefyn's wife," Keilana announced, stiffening her spine and squaring her shoulders. Quynn was impressed by the quick transition she had made from humiliated female to dictatorial wife.

Keilana motioned to two men standing guard in the hall, men of house Caron that did not hesitate to advance with their hands on the hilts of their swords. By the disgusted looks on their faces, Quynn guessed that they had served on Varoonya under Taeron during the occupation. She was sure that they had gone to Teralon as well because when Cydeara released Dijana, one of them quietly inquired if she had been harmed. He probably would have been happier with an affirmative answer so that he could use his blade on the Varoonyan princess, but Dijana shook her head.

"Escort Princess Cydeara to a room so that she may rest," ordered Keilana. "When her husband returns, she may leave her room."

"I am a prisoner?" cried Cyeara indignantly. The men seized her arms to force her to accompany them. "You will regret this!"

When they had gone, Dijana wavered and it was Keilana who hurried to her to prevent her from falling. "I do not feel well."

Quynn hurried to help Keilana steady the other woman. "Dijana, are you with child?" She expected the answer, and yet the nod surprised her.

"It happened on Teralon," she told Quynn. "When Taeron was bonded."

"Is he not bonded now?" asked Keilana with a frown. "Did you not bond after we left?"

Dijana shook her head. "My husband must be strong to fight." Tears filled her eyes and Quynn hoped she would not weep because she was afraid that she would as well.

Before she could, Yori reached out to grasp Dijana's hand. "Taeron will be safe, princess, for you and for Caelitha."

"Caelitha?" Quynn raised a brow at her son.

Yori grinned at her. "She has wings! She will be queen of Teralon one day." He seemed to have a vested interest in Dijana's baby, so she would ask him later about it.

She would be able to get answers from him later, but for now she helped Dijana to her own room because she dared not leave her unprotected. Keilana stayed with them as Dijana told her what had happened at Edgeland Fortress, and because she had been awake most of the night, Quynn urged her to sleep. Quynn was not surprised to see Yori crawl onto the bed to cuddle against Dijana, putting his small hand on her belly. He fell asleep with a contented smile on his lips and Quynn wondered if he was communicating with Caelitha.

Keilana walked out of the room to the garden which glowed with the twilight of the second sun. Although she had not said anything about what she had witnessed in the hall, Quynn knew the time had come for her to know the truth.

She followed her, and they did not speak until they had sat on the stone bench at the farthest end.

"He is her bonded mate, isn't he?" Keilana asked and Quynn could not lie now that she had guessed the truth.

"I am sorry, Keilana. She did it to him when he was a small child."

"By the gods, she is a more horrible woman than I had even imagined!" Keilana sucked in a breath and her hands curled into fists on her lap. "He has not come to me at night, has he? We have not …?" Her face blossomed with pink, the first hint of color Quynn had seen in the pale female. "He has used his cursed magic on me!"

Quynn wanted to tell her that Staefyn did so because he did not want to hurt her, but that would be a lie. Staefyn did not seem to care who he hurt anymore. "What will you do? Will you tell your brothers to end their alliance with him?"

"I would not be such a fool!" Keilana's breath was coming faster and Quynn could see that she was terrified. "I have already shamed the males of my house by not securing my marriage to the crown prince! The only reason they did not beat me was that they were afraid of what Prince Staefyn would do if I came to my marriage bed mottled with bruises and whimpering with broken bones. If they discover that my marriage exists only by the thread of his oath, they will blame me."

If Staefyn had the same belief in oaths as Taeron did, that thread was very strong.

"The warriors in the hall seem to respect you," Quynn pointed out. "You told me yourself that your mother had gained the loyalty of some of your father's men. They might protect you from the males of your house when you tell them that they must not fight for a man who has shamed them."

Quynn did not expect Keilana to begin the rallying cry that would stop house Caron from fighting with Warlord Kai's men, so she was not disappointed when she shook her head.

"I have made an oath." She raised her chin. "The males of my house may be dishonorable oath breakers, but I will not break mine. I have given myself to Prince Staefyn and I will see this marriage through to wherever it may take me."

If Xuxa had her way, and she always did, Keilana's oath would take her to her death.


	84. Chapter 84 Rest and recovery

**Chapter 84**

The suns were shining brightly when Taeron opened his eyes. At first he was disoriented because he remembered that the suns had set, but now they were high in the sky, almost at equal distance. He remembered bringing Lady Arora back to the healer's camp, but nothing after placing her in the emperor's arms. Turning his head now he saw other warriors lying on pallets around him, most unconscious, others sitting up, but Taeron did not remember how he had gotten here. There were young men and women moving amongst them, stopping to check bandages, giving cups of water or medicine to others. A few men noticed him and their weary faces brightened when he acknowledged them with a nod or a wave.

He noticed then that a canopy had been erected nearby where he saw the emperor half-lying, half sitting among a pile of pillows, his wife lying against him with her head resting on his chest. They had changed from their bloody clothing, but both still looked pale and weak from their injuries. Trey was speaking so quietly to the commanders that were sitting around him in a semi-circle that Taeron could not hear him. His father had been sitting cross-legged near Trey, but his head turned in Taeron's direction when his wife leaned down to say something in his ear. When Taeron struggled to sit, thinking that he should be attending the emperor's meeting, he did not have the strength to do any more than raise his head and that caused him more pain than the effort was worth.

Lord Duo leaned in to speak to the emperor who waved him away and the other men turned to look in Taeron's direction as his father rose to head towards him after Lady Trynity.

"By the gods, Taeron, can't we sleep a little longer?"

He hadn't realized that Amyr was beside him and when he turned his head now to watch him drag his body to a sitting position, Taeron winced from the pain that shot through his skull. He did not remember receiving any blows to the head during the battle, so this pain was puzzling as well as debilitating.

"How did I get here?" he asked Amyr.

"You swooned," said Amyr with a shrug.

"I swooned?"Taeron would not believe that he fainted.

"Like a female in the first months of her breeding cycle," said Amyr with a nod.

"He's not quite telling the truth." Lady Trynity said with a frown at Amyr as she knelt beside Taeron and took his wrist to check the beats of his heart. Satisfied, she reached up to touch his head and he caught his breath from the pain her probing caused him. "You were weak from loss of blood and when you heard what had happened to Dijana, you tried to leave to rescue her immediately."

"Then I fainted?" He now remembered hearing of Guillem's arrival in camp and Dijana's parents telling him that Staefyn had attacked Edgeland Fortress and taken her away, but he had no memory of the rest.

His father came upon them then and squatted beside him. "How are you feeling? You hit your head when I knocked you down a couple of nights ago."

"A couple of nights?" His heart began to beat erratically and he had a hard time breathing. "Dijana has been at Guerani Palace for a couple of nights? They have Quynn's transport! What if Kai has taken her away?" Kai could have taken her anywhere beyond the frontier! His communication with Norvana proved that he had contacts beyond the emperor's control.

Amyr put his hand over Taeron's to calm him as his father spoke to reassure him. "The hills are filled with imperial warriors and there are warbirds patrolling the sky and space above Calabria. Bayman has sent its space fleet with orders to intercept any craft leaving Calabria."

"My mate would be able to outrun them," said Amyr, "But Kai will not escape if he tries."

"What if he forces Quynn to pilot the ship?" Taeron could not help imagining the worst possible scenarios.

Duo snorted. "She would be sure to get them captured by Bayman."

"Why did you let me sleep so long?" he demanded furiously. He started to get up, but he felt dizzy and weak.

"You were not sleeping," said Trynity. "You have a concussion. The Guerani healers were overwhelmed, so I have been treating you. You also lost a lot of blood in the battle, particularly from the wound on your arm."

"I am awake now. I need to get Dijana out of Guerani Palace!" Taeron was finding it hard to breathe as he imagined Dijana in Kai's hands.

"You need to rest, Taeron," scolded Lady Trynity in a tone that would brook no defiance. "If it weren't for your magic and Amyr's protection spell, you would have been dead ten times over, and now your body needs to recover."

"I don't have magic," he insisted. If he had magic, why did he feel so drained?

His father grunted. "Stop denying it, Taeron. We all saw it when you were fighting, and seeing that golden light emboldened many men. While you were unconscious, Amyr and Shamara exhausted themselves healing all your wounds."

"You were not injured, father?"

Lord Duo pulled up his tunic to display many red welts. "Apolo healed me."

Trynity frowned at them. "If you two males are done crowing about your war injuries, I want to remind both of you that you need rest." She looked at Taeron. "The Guerani can close your wounds and ease your pain, but you lost too much blood. You have no choice, Taeron, but to give your body time to recover. At least for today, you need to stay off your feet, eat and rest. I will arrange for food to be brought to you."

His father scowled at him. "If you try to leave this pallet, I will clobber you over the head again."

He did not believe his father would do as he threatened, but the knot on his head hurt enough, so Taeron decided not to test him. But he looked at Amyr, "What of Dijana and Yori? Are you content to sit here while Staefyn has Yori at Guerani Palace?"

"I am in no shape to head into the hills. What good would I do them by collapsing and falling into a canyon or one of the many crevasses? Your father and Darlac have already organized and sent warriors to secure the hills, so when we are ready to go, we won't be ambushed by thralls."

His head told Taeron that he must be patient, that Amyr was right, but his heart was frantic with worry for Dijana and their unborn child. He could not bear to think of Kai hurting her again. She might want to fight him, but she would not for the sake of the child and Kai was the kind of villain that would take advantage of her acquiesence.

His father put his hand on his shoulder. "I know this is difficult for you, son, but you cannot go into the hills like this. We are expecting scouts to return later today, so we will be able to plan an attack on Guerani Palace."

"It won't be easy," predicted Amyr as he sat beside Taeron. "My parents did not intend to house an army in the hills so the palace itself is all but impregnable with only one approach with high walls and one gate to pass through. The other sides of the palace are positioned on the edge of a canyon."

"The cliff face is impossible to climb even with the most experienced men attempting it," Lord Duo told Taeron. "Trey did not even want to build the palace because of the rebels hiding in the mountains, but Apolo and Arora wanted to be near the ancestors."

"We won't be able to starve them out until the cold months," continued Amyr. "The gardens on the terraces will provide them with plenty of food."

The cold season had only recently come and gone, so they would be waiting many months before they would attempt an assault. "I will not let Dijana suffer that long with Kai."

"And I will not allow my daughter to be born into Staefyn's hands," said Amyr adamantly.

Lord Duo hugged Taeron before rising. "I am glad that you have awakened, son, but you still need to rest. Come along, Amyr. Now that you are awake after a good long rest, your father and mother wish to speak to you and I am sure my wife has some work for you."

After Amyr had gone, Taeron fell onto his back and threw his arm over his eyes to block out the suns. He did not want to follow their advice, and if his body would cooperate, he would take up his sword and head to the hills on his own. But he had used up what little had remained of his strength in bringing Lady Arora to the healing camp, so he had no choice but to admit that Lady Trynity's counsel was wise, that he should recover. He would not be able to face Kai in his present condition. He had been at his peak the last time they crossed swords and that had been a difficult fight even without Dijana's interference. In the intervening months Taeron had worked hard to grow stronger to face him, but he could not imagine that Kai had been sitting idly by. The Varoonyan would be prepared for him this time, knowing what Taeron was capable of, and at the moment, he was not even capable of raising his sword.

He was consoled with the knowledge that Dijana would not be alone this time in facing the warlord as she had been on Teralon when her family had sacrificed her to the creature. Quynn was at Guerani Palace, and Amyr told him that Quynn had Staefyn to thank for her protecting her. She may have little power over Kai or Xuxa, but Staefyn's affection for her would keep them from hurting her. Taeron sensed Staefyn would include Dijana in his cloak of protection. He could not imagine otherwise, not from the Staefyn he knew, and he had to trust that there was a line over which he would not step, not for Kai, not even for Xuxa.

The warmth from the suns soon lulled him back to sleep, but a light touch awoke him a short time later. Opening his eyes, he found several females standing nearby with tentative smiles as their eyes raked over him as if he were a banquet table. Gods, he thought with annoyance as he realized one of them had touched him, Dijana should have allowed him to bond so he would not have to suffer their unsolicited attention. And then he saw that they carried bowls, so he concluded that Lady Trynity had sent them. He could see by their plain, blood-streaked tunics, that they were healers.

When he struggled to sit, two of them hurried to help him and as they did, Taeron noticed that the men around him were watching with amusement.

"My lord prince, we have come to take care of your needs," said a dark-haired female with a shy smile.

"You can take care of _my_ needs," remarked one of the men watching, making the men nearby guffaw and the females giggle.

Taeron wanted to send them away, but he was hungry, and seeing one of the women with a basin of water, he realized that he was filthy, after someone, perhaps Amyr, had done a poor job of washing away the gore from the battle. Reaching for food from one of the bowls, he winced at the pain in his arm, so the female holding it, took some food and held it to his lips. He balked at first, then opened his mouth and allowed her to feed him.

"My lord, we need to remove your tunic to care for your wounds. Lady Trynity asked us to put healing salve on them."

They did not give him a chance to tell them that the Guerani healers had sealed the wounds before they were ripping away his tunic and undershirt, not stopping until they had bared him to the waist. He fended off their attempts to divest him of his leggings although he was not able to keep them from removing his boots. The other men were watching now with open interest, struggling to sit up for a better view. Taeron disliked being their entertainment, but when he opened his mouth to reprimand the females, he had food thrust past his lips and he had little choice but to chew it.

As he ate, two of the women set about washing his upper body and he felt guilty for the pleasure they gave him from the warm cloth they applied to his chest. Another female pulled him back into her lap as two more poured water over his head to wash the dried blood from his stiff, matted hair. When she had his hair clean, she combed through the long strands with her fingers before massaging his scalp and he sighed with contentment. She did not arouse him; none of them did, but he relaxed to allow them to care for him. He did not really have the strength to fight off the attacking females anyway.

They fed him, washed him, massaged his aching muscles with a healing salve that made his flesh tingle pleasantly. Even the two that had taken it upon themselves to knead his feet with their expert touch nearly made him groan with unexpected pleasure. He felt so relaxed that he closed his eyes and decided that he preferred the softness of the females caring for him over the hard ground and if they did not mind, he was going to sleep a bit longer with his head in a soft lap.

"I had heard that you were awake."

Gods! Neria!

His eyes snapped open and he felt a moment of panic to find Neria standing over him, her wings blotting out the sun. Roehan stood nearby, his brows raised but a smirk playing about his lips.

"My lord prince needs rest," said the woman whose lap pillowed his head, her fingers in his hair where she had been massaging his scalp.

Neria's gaze swept over the females around him. "And how will he get rest with the lot of you groping him?"

"He looked like he was resting," remarked Roehan. "And quite comfortably, at that."

"Shut up," his wife snapped with an icy glare at him. Now the look she gave the women was frightening and they shifted nervously. "There are other men who need the services that you offer."

Each of them looked as though they were ready to argue, but they suddenly pushed away from Taeron who winced when he fell back on the hard ground as they scampered away. He wondered if they were afraid of Neria, but the reason for their departure soon became apparent. Lady Trynity was approaching with his mother followed by Jeshed, Stryfe and Chaela and several men.

Trynity had glanced briefly at Taeron before her gaze followed the females that had hurried away. "I think I have discovered a lack of discipline among my healers." She glanced at Taeron. "They did not disturb you, did they?"

"It did not appear so," Roehan told her before Taeron had a chance to speak. "He appeared to be quite cozy in their care."

"Why are you still here?" demanded Neria with annoyance. "Go train your men. Perhaps one of them will knock your skull so I won't have to." Roehan was chuckling as he walked away. "Males," grumbled Neria as she watched him leave before turning to fix Taeron with her censoring gaze.

Taeron looked at Trynity. "You did not send them to me?"

She nodded to his brothers and Chaela. "They arrived in camp, and so I thought to have them care for you to avoid just this situation."

"I have no intention of massaging your feet," remarked Stryfe with a chuckle.

"I will, if you wish," offered Chaela with an impish smile.

"I doubt my daughter wants any female massaging his feet," pointed out Neria. "And when she hears of what was happening here, I doubt she will be pleased."

"It didn't look like an orgy," commented Stryfe. "Although I was far enough away that I couldn't see before they left, so I may have to embellish the official account a bit."

Taeron glared at him. "I am still clothed." Not fully, but enough to prove he had not broken any oath to Dijana. He hoped she would not begrudge him the comfort the females had given him.

His mother pushed her way forward. "You look dreadful, Taeron, and these conditions are appalling." She snapped her fingers at the men carrying armfuls of cloth and poles. "Set up my son's tent. Jeshed, help the scribe bring your brother to the emperor's tent while they ready his."

Taeron put up his hand to stop them. "I won't sit in comfort while my men suffer."

Larya frowned at him. "I did not think that you would. Lady Trynity has assured me that I have brought enough supplies for the injured. They will all have acceptable accomodation as they recuperate."

Glancing around, Taeron saw that other tents were being erected to keep the men out of the suns, that blankets were being distributed to keep them warm during the night. He looked at his mother with gratitude and he saw that there were tears in her eyes. And then he noticed the color of her eyes.

"Mother!" How had her eyes turned green?

Tears glistened in those murky green eyes as she fell to her knees and threw her arms around him. Did she look different? Taeron could see her obvious resemblence to Lady Virinea now.

"Staefyn did it," she told him with a tremulous smile.

He laid his hand on her cheek. "Mother, he did not hurt you, did he?"

She shook her head. "Xuxa ordered him to take me to her, but when he used his powers on me and removed Dax's magic block, he chose to leave me behind at Edgeland Fortress." She put her hand over Taeron's. "I am sorry, Taeron, that Staefyn took Dijana."

He lowered his hand but clasped hers. "There is nothing you could have done to stop him."

Now she touched his face. "I was so worried about you, Taeron." She looked him over for a moment before she threw her arms around him. He knew he was bruised and battered, and he certainly would be in far worse condition if Amyr had not been protecting him, but he had no idea how he must look until now. Taeron felt her hot tears against his flesh and he could only hold her to him and let her hear his heart beating to ease the horror she must feel to realize how close he had come to death. He was glad she had not seen the wound that Kai had given him when it was fresh and not the scar against which she pressed her cheek.

When she had finished weeping, Neria helped her to stand. "Your son is alive, Larya, for which we have the gods to thank." She raised a brow. "And his magic."

He parted his lips, the denial of his magic on his tongue, but he saw the light of amusement in Jeshed's violet gaze. Some day that cursed shapeshifting dragon would tell him what he had done to him to make others believe he had magic!

"I have never seen my son like this!" he heard his mother whimper as Neria led her to the emperor's tent where Apolo was waiting for her. "He is all manner of grotesque colors."

"Grotesque hardly begins to describe how awful you look," commented Stryfe. "And yet it is a fitting term. I can't believe those females did not run from the sight of you screaming."

Chaela knelt beside him. "I can," she cooed as she ran her hands over his back and around to his chest. Seeing the playful light in her eyes, Taeron snorted with amusement until he noticed Jeshed's frown. He reached up to take her hands and move them away from his flesh.

"I don't need any more healing today," he told her with a smile.

She leaned close to him. "I wasn't healing you, Taeron. I was pleasing myself."

Jeshed cleared his throat and Taeron noticed that Chaela seemed to be annoyed by the reminder of his presence. "I have some clothing from mother for you," he said.

"She is not your mother," Chaela pointed out with a disdainful glance at him.

Color rose to Jeshed's cheeks and Stryfe laughed to dispel the tension that had suddenly developed. "Speaking of mothers, I believe that yours might wish to see you."

"Oh!" Chaela seemed to remember the purpose for her visit to Taeron. "I wanted to tell you that Staefyn was gentle with Dijana. She went bravely with him. I don't think she is afraid anymore to face Kai."

"I am glad because I am terrified to know that she is facing Kai alone."

"He cannot enthrall her anymore and I am sure that Yori will protect her if Staefyn does not." Chaela's nose wrinkled and her brows furrowed. "He has convinced himself that Caelitha is his mate."

Taeron's brows rose. "How did he decide that?" He glanced at Jeshed who shrugged. Taeron noticed the collar around his neck. "What is that?"

Jeshed reached up to touch the collar. "Prince Staefyn put this on me. It is imbued with magic that prevents me from shifting to my dragon form."

Chaela's nose wrinkled. "Too bad, Jeshed. I think I saw a canyon beast in Lady Trynity's camp that you could have snacked on."

His brows drew together. "I am not hungry."

She rolled her eyes up and then walked away. Jeshed watched her, continuing to frown, and then he looked at Taeron. "I do not understand females."

Stryfe laughed. "They are a great mystery, Jeshed."

Jeshed looked at Taeron. "I cannot fly you to Guerani Palace, but I would do anything to help you, brother."

Taeron gave him a grateful smile but he would not ask Jeshed for help. The shapeshifter could not defend himself without his magic. He had much to learn about being a human. "I would feel more at ease knowing you are protecting mother."

Jeshed seemed pleased to be given such an important task.

Stryfe took Jeshed's arm. "My mother will be angry if we keep Taeron from his rest. The emperor might be interested in hearing from you what happened at the fortress."

As they walked away, Taeron realized he was weary although he had not been awake for long. They were all right. If he hoped to rescue Dijana, he needed to rest to recover his strength.


	85. Chapter 85 House Taeron

**Chapter 85**

The following morning after Taeron had slept the remainder of the day and the entire night without stirring, he felt refreshed enough to get up and help Lady Trynity any way he could, but the emperor had other plans. Trey was well enough to move around with the aid of a walking stick, so he went out among the warriors accompanied by Taeron's father. After putting on the fresh clothing his mother left for him, Taeron was going to find Lady Trynity to ask if she needed him to help, but Jeshed cut him off with an order from the emperor that he look after the welfare of the house Caron men.

Among the injured, those warriors were easy to identify by the red and green colors they wore, and since they had been positioned on either side of the the thralls during the battle, many of the injured had been from that house. From his excursions to Teralon and Varoonya, Taeron knew many of the men and could talk to them about their families. For those that were seriously wounded, he sent Jeshed for healers and he made plans to ask Stryfe to record the names of those that had fallen so that he could personally visit with their families after the rebellion was completely crushed. By the time the suns were at equal distance, Taeron was also accompanied by two healers as well as Amyr.

As he was talking to one of the men, he received a message from Trey to meet him at the house Caron camp, so Taeron went to the camp near the foot of the hills where he was surprised to find the emperor overseeing the removal of house Caron banners. Many uninjured warriors gathered to watch with Taeron as men from Meridon's clan tore down the ostentatious tent that had been occupied by Aevan and Caerl, replacing it with a black and green tent trimmed with gold that matched the banners that were now being raised.

As Taeron watched the men drape the camp in the colors he had chosen for his own house, his father came to stand with him and he was glad when Lord Duo put his hand on his shoulder because he was overwhelmed with the honor the enperor was giving him. The warriors of the fallen house were silent, but they gave Taeron smiles and nods of approval that made his heart swell.

When the tent was in place, Trey motioned for Taeron to step forward to join him, and his father led him to the emperor who stood with Meridon.

He held out his hand to Taeron. "Give me your sword."

Taeron gave him the sword and Trey turned to the sea of men that had gathered.

"House Caron is no more. On this day, I grant all the lands formerly of house Caron, to house Taeron. Crown Prince Taeron shall henceforth rule those lands in my name." He stabbed the sword of the crown prince into the ground before Taeron. "Step forward and give your oath to be called warriors of house Taeron."

The first man came forward and dropping to a knee, he put his hand on the hilt of the sword. "I vow to serve you, lord prince Taeron."

Taeron knew that the emperor expected him to govern in the south, but he had not forseen that Trey would give him all that had once belonged to house Caron. Each warrior that stepped forward to pledge service to Taeron did so eagerly and he detected no rancor among them. His father stood nearby beaming with pride and Stryfe was sitting on a padded chair before a small table, a scroll before him as he recorded the names of the men as they gave their oath. There were many warriors, and Trey took a seat on a bench next to Meridon to watch when his injury began to bother him.

By the time the last of the men had spoken his oath, the second sun had set and campfires had been lit with a particularly large one placed before Taeron's tent. Because they had gone a considerable distance from the healers' camp, Trey sent Duo back to inform Lady Arora that he was going to stay in Taeron's camp for the night. Duo returned with Larya and an army of servants with enough food to make a feast to celebrate. When Darlac arrived with men rolling barrels, Taeron wondered if they had been brewing ale on the way to the battlefield. After a few cups of the brew, he did not care and he was relaxed as he sat with Jeshed and Stryfe listening to his father and the emperor reminisce about past battles.

They were joined during the feast by the Guerani healers who were weary from the long hours of caring for the wounded, but they seemed to be rejuvenated by the celebration. Taeron felt guilty to be enjoying himself when Dijana was a prisoner and he noted that Neria and Roehan had not come, nor had any of their warriors. He realized that they must be angry by his inaction, but there was nothing Taeron could do.

"You should not be so glum," Amyr said as he nudged Jeshed from his side. Taeron was going to scold Amyr for taking Jeshed's place, but Jeshed moved away to take up a position in the shadows where he could watch Chaela as she sat with her parents near the fire.

Sighing, he looked back at Amyr. "How can I be happy celebrating when Dijana is at Guerani Palace with Kai?"

"Kai hasn't returned to the palace yet," Amyr told him. "He's been seen in the hills, probably looking for more men to enthrall."

Taeron could not believe there were any men left in the hills that Kai had not already sent to their deaths.

Amyr drew Taeron away from their families and led him behind the tent. He looked past Taeron to be sure they were alone before he said, "Come to the Teralonian camp tomorrow after equal distance. Roehan has a plan for getting into the palace that I think will work, but I have to talk to Shamara and Chaela first before we can implement it."

"Does it involve Yori?" Taeron did not like using Yori in any plan to infiltrate the palace, even if it was to rescue Dijana and Quynn.

"I will have to contact Yori," admitted Amyr. "But I will not ask him to do anything dangerous."

"Using his powers around Staefyn is dangerous," Taeron reminded him tersely. He would have said more, but his father came around the side of the tent.

"There you are! I thought you might have gotten lost in the dark. Or maybe you were discussing things that would displease your fathers?"

Taeron did not respond.

Amyr chuckled. "What could we possibly be discussing that would displease you or my father?"

"Whatever it is, I suggest you run it past us or the gods know there will be hell to pay if what you are planning goes south." With one last warning frown, Duo left them.

"Run it past him? What should I be running past him with?" Taeron looked at Amyr. "And what did he mean by going south? Guerani Palace is northwest of here and I have no intention of heading south until my mate is at my side."

"I do not understand half of what your father says," Amyr admitted as they walked back around the tent. When they came around the side, Taeron saw his father bending to say something to Trey that had Arora leaning over to listen.

"That does not bode well," muttered Amyr under his breath.

Shamara distracted him by coming to hug him. "Congratulations, Taeron! The gods have shown their favor yet again!" She leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Amyr says I should meet you at the Teralonian camp tomorrow. I will sleep beside you tonight to heal you."

"You think Dagan would like that?" teased Amyr.

"I am already healed," said Taeron before Shamara could retort although his arm chose that moment to throb, reminding him that he might need to accept her offer.

She smiled knowingly over her shoulder as she went back to sit by Chaela. Taeron saw Jeshed now sitting beside his mother watching Chaela, but Larya said something to him that made him rise and cross to Taeron.

"Mother wishes for you to join her."

Joining her meant passing by Trey, and if Trey questioned him outright, Taeron would not lie. But Amyr stayed by his side and when it looked as though the emperor was about to speak to him, Amyr decided it was a good time to tell his father what he had been doing that day.

When Taeron sat beside his mother, she looked at him and frowned. "You look tired, my son. I am hoping that you are not planning to do something foolish because I would not be happy to learn that you are planning to risk your life needlessly."

He raised his brows. "I would not do that, mother."

"I have heard from the house Caron … your warriors that Warlord Kai is a formidable warrior. The thought of you fighting such a man in your present condition is frightening." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I could not bear to lose you."

Taeron did not need to hear her heartfelt words. She was just as important to him. For many years it seemed as if they had only each other although Taeron knew now that had not been true. Amyr might have scorned him when they were younger, but Staefyn had been a beloved friend and brother, and when he had faced Staefyn on the battlefield, he knew that Staefyn still cared about him. So he had one more task to add to his plans. He must somehow save Staefyn, from harm and from himself.

The celebration lasted almost until first sunrise, but after second sunrise Taeron was awake and receiving reports from the battalion commanders. There were ten battalions whose commanders Taeron promptly made warlords with Trey's blessing. They had earned the honor by serving as examples to their men and once Taeron traveled south to administer to his lands, he would assign them their own holdings. Now they reported how many had been killed, wounded and how many remained under their command. The casualties had been relatively few because many men of his new house had served under him in Varoonya and were prepared to fight the berserking thralls under Kai's control, and that left Taeron with an enormous army under his personal command. When he went to his holdings he would find that another three large battalions had remained behind to protect house Caron's stronghold. Trey did not betray how relieved he was that the warriors of the rotting house had not forsaken their vows, but Taeron knew that he surely felt it.

They rode back to the imperial camp where Trey found several other house lords waiting to speak to him. Most wanted to know what the emperor wished for them to do and since the fighting was over, he told them they could return to their holdings. The massive army was not needed for the hills where Meridon's older warriors would be of more use because they knew the mountains well and could fight the thralls that may have escaped with Kai.

Trey profusely thanked them for their loyalty, and they each told Trey that they would do it again, would rather die fighting for him than live under the rule of men like those of house Caron. The emperors preceding Trey had played the warlords against each other so that they did not set their sights on his throne. Before Trey had taken the throne and united them, it was not unusual for them to go to war against each other, but for many years now they had been free from attack from their neighbors which allowed them to prosper. The obligations of imperial rule had expanded considerably and no warlord wanted the trouble of ruling, preferring instead the peace and security of their own holdings.

The last warlord to approach was an older man that Trey greeted with a friendly hug. Lord Wattan had been instrumental in helping Trey gain his throne, had, in fact, served briefly as Zeno's imperial guard after Dax's death. He had gathered the forces who dared to oppose everything that Zeno stood for, who recognized him as Zeno's son when Trey had been declared a pretender. Taeron had never met Lord Wattan because his holdings were far to the southwest and he rarely visited Imperia although he had provided warriors for both engagements on Teralon.

"Where is your beautiful wife?" Wattan asked Trey. "I have not seen her in many years."

"She is aiding the healers."

"I hope to speak to her before I return to my lands." His eyes fell briefly on Taeron before he looked back at Trey. "And Duo? I understand that his brilliant wife is commanding the healing battalion."

Trey grunted. "Commanding the battalion is an apt description and at the moment they are entrenched in war. She has Duo and his men digging trenches to divert fresh water through the camp and she has enlisted the help of dozens of warriors to keep her hospital camp clean."

"I remember well the horror of the battles we fought when so many warriors needlessly lost their lives after the battle had been won," remarked the other man ruefully. "Lady Trynity has done much to prevent the spread of sickness, not just today, but with her wondrous healing potions."

"Don't tell her that I said this, but I owe much to that arrogant female."

Wattan threw back his head in laughter. "She reminds me of your mother, beautiful and intelligent. Where is your mother now? She has not returned to Calabria?"

"She lives in the human system where she has taken a position teaching." His face looked as if he had swallowed something sour. "She is married to Lady Trynity's father."

Wattan chuckled and put his hand on Trey's shoulder. "That would make her your sister."

"Step-sister," grumbled Trey, "but I will never acknowledge her as such."

"And now you have discovered that you have a sister who shares your blood." Wattan sighed deeply. "Virinea never forgave Zeno for what he did to their daughter, and I often wondered if she resented Lady Arora because he saved her."

"My mother came to understand who the true villain was. Camridaeus was a master at sowing dissention and distrust."

"Will you send word to her about Lady … Princess Larya?"

Trey reached up to nervously rub the back of his neck. "She has confided in me that she is afraid that our mother will not want to acknowledge her because of what she has done." Trey shook his head. "I am more anxious of how she will feel to discover that her daughter was within reach, that Xuxa had tortured her throughout her childhood to pay for the rejections of both Zeno and Dax."

Wattan grunted. "I should have cut off that female's head instead of delivering her back to her people. Zeno did not want her blood on his hands, not when Virinea had come back into his life. He knew he was not going to live much longer and he did not want one of her last memories of him to be him ordering a woman's death."

"His uncharacteristic clemency has come back to bite us in the backside." He turned to include Taeron in their conversation. "Lord Wattan, you have not met my crown prince, my sister Larya's son, Taeron."

Wattan bowed to him. "I have heard much of your skill. My warriors have only words of praise for your leadership."

Taeron returned his bow. "I am honored to have served the emperor with them."

The older man chuckled. "Trey, I would have accepted Amyr as your heir, but naming Taeron crown prince instead was a shrewd decision. I will not live to see his reign, but I am sure that he will be wise and firm, as his father has been on Ulfynaeus. If anyone questioned your choice before, learning that Larya is your sister and he has Zeno's blood has legitimized his right to rule."

Trey waved his hand dismissively. "I did not care about that. Calabria needs a strong ruler and Taeron has proven his worthiness again and again."

"Renaeld has always coveted your rule, Trey. He surely believed he would gain it through his daughter and that is why he tried to force Prince Taeron to take the female of his house as his wife." Wattan fell silent for a moment and then he met the emperor's gaze. "You probably do not know this, Trey, but my father secretly mated and bonded with my mother, and when she bore a female, he kept her."

Trey did not seem surprised. "I did not believe I was the first imperial to refuse to expose my daughter."

Wattan nodded. "I know of others who have kept their females secret for many years. Because our lands are far from the imperial court, my father was able to hide his mate and my sister from Zeno, but he was unable to hide my sister from house Caron whose lands border our own to the south."

Trey sighed deeply and sat back on his chair, waving for Wattan to sit beside him. "I think I understand now why you have always had such enmity to house Caron."

"I don't remember how it happened although my father was certain Caron had spies in our house, but Caron discovered our secret. He threatened to report the females to the emperor, and my father feared I would lose my position in Zeno's house should the truth become known, so he was forced to surrender my sister to Renaeld."

Wattan sighed deeply. "Renaeld would not allow us to see her, and I had no way of knowing how she fared. She was innocent and gentle, and I knew firsthand from his days at the palace when being Dilan's friend meant he could do whatever he wished to females with impunity how he was probably treating her."

He fell silent for a moment and Taeron noticed that color touched the man's cheeks as he looked away from Trey. Wattan had not been at Taeron's oath ceremony, but he had surely heard what Trey had done and why.

"Do not feel discomfort on my account," Trey told him to dispel the awkwardness of the moment. "I cannot change what happened to my wife at his hands any more than you can change what he did to your sister. And I would not change what I did to him."

"For that you have my gratitude, and if I had felt any hesitation in joining this insane venture, what you did to that foul miscreant would have erased it. As for my sister, when she left our home, we did not hear from her again. One day several years later, some of warriors patrolling the boundary with Caron lands found her body and those of several men of house Caron. Based on the items left behind, she was traveling with a child, a female, and I think she must have been her daughter."

"You have never seen her?" asked Trey in surprise.

"I made the mistake of inquiring about her and Renaeld sent several squadrons to our boundary to warn me of the consequences of meddling in the affairs of his house. I worried that he might dispose of the child, so I regretfully let the matter drop. What could I do? Even if my sister did have a child, she was his daughter."

Trey shook his head in remorse. "I was so glad not to be in constant war with house Caron that I allowed him more leeway than I should have." He glanced at Taeron and he knew without Trey saying so that he was still ashamed for trying to force him into marriage with Keilana.

"Their warriors served you well," said Wattan. "I do not fault you for what happened to my sister. The fault lay with Renaeld and you have avenged the many females he abused and disposed of. Which brings me to what I wish to speak of now. Based on the description that the men serving in the palace have given me, I believe that Keilana is my sister's daughter. Maera had my mother's black hair and blue eyes."

"That certainly sounds like Keilana." He glanced at Taeron before looking at Wattan. "Will you demand redress for Taeron's decision to take Dijana of Teralon as his wife instead of your niece?"

"Not at all!" Wattan looked at Taeron. "I love my own wife, so I understand your choice probably more than many, given the consequences. I have no grievance against you." He looked back at Trey. "I have heard that house Caron faced us on the field because Prince Staefyn has exchanged oaths with Keilana."

"Where did you learn this?" asked Trey. The news of Staefyn's marriage to Keilana was not common knowledge.

"One of Aevan's commanders heard him discussing how they intended to dispose of Prince Staefyn once she had given him a son. Is it true, Trey? Is Keilana his wife?"

"My son is bonded to Xuxa," Trey reminded him. "He cannot give her a son; his marriage exists only as an alliance and that alliance has failed."

"Which is why I wish to speak to you about Keilana. I fear what will happen to her when the betrayal of her house is made known."

Trey sucked in his breath. "You think my son will hurt Keilana?" He was outraged that a man he had known for many years would accuse his son of harming a female.

Wattan put up his hand. "Peace, Trey! I saw your children healing with their powers, and I have heard that Staefyn has powers that rival Dax. As a Guerani, he would not hurt her, but I cannot say the same about his allies. Is it true that Warlord Kai killed the sister of Princess Dijana?" He glanced at Taeron for confirmation and when he nodded, Wattan continued. "Trey, you have your sister, but all I could have of mine is her child."

Taeron could guess what Trey was thinking, that Keilana shared the guilt of her house. She had not balked at marrying Taeron, had never asked for help against the males of her house, and she had gained a powerful male as her mate. But Taeron realized he had seen the signs that Renaeld had abused and terrified her. The one time she did let her true feelings show had been when she was probably afraid that Taeron would balk at marrying her. He had never been interested in Keilana, seeing her as an obligation when he could not have the woman he loved. As he thought of her now, he realized that she was not pale, she was sickly white. She was not thin and elegant, but bony and starved. She was not cold and detached, but terrified of what would happen to her if she failed. Taeron wished he had not been so selfishly grieving his own loss or he might have been able to offer her help in escaping the males of her house.

He could do something now. "My lord," he spoke up when Trey remained silent, "I have taken Caron's lands and warriors, so it is only right that I accept responsibility for the female of his house."

Trey made a sound of disgust. "Say what she really was to house Caron, Taeron. She was the means to an end, a means that they meant to discard just as quickly as they would have you. Before you make any promises concerning Keilana, perhaps you should discuss it with your unbonded mate. I imagine Neria might have a few words about you taking responsibility for another female."

"She is married to your son, Trey," pointed out Wattan. "Will you take her into your house?" When Trey did not respond, Wattan smiled grimly. "I thought not. But I do not blame you after what her sire did to your wife." He looked at Taeron. "I will be in your debt, my lord prince, if you can help my sister's child."

Trey gave him a warning frown.

Taeron ignored him. "I vow, Lord Wattan, that I will take Keilana into my house to give her my protection."

Trey huffed with annoyance. "Your heart is too good, Taeron. When she causes you trouble, I will not restrain myself from reminding you that I warned you against this."

"My mother would want me to protect her."

But later when Taeron told her about what he had discussed with them, his mother shook her head. "Taeron, you are not bonded. Giving protection to Staefyn's wife may prove to be a mistake." She patted his cheek. "But I am pleased that you would offer to help a woman, Keilana of house Caron included, even if there is little hope of her surviving Xuxa's hospitality at Guerani Palace."

Disturbed by his mother's remark and considering Wattan's fears about Kai's retribution, Taeron began to feel even more anxious to rescue the females. He was glad when the suns were at equal distance so that he could meet Amyr at the Teralonian camp. Amyr was already there with Chaela and Shamara, and Taeron was surprised to see Stryfe with Jeshed sitting among them.

Taeron sat down by Amyr. "What is my brother doing here?" he asked nodding at Stryfe. Having the imperial scribe at the meeting did not seem prudent if they wanted to keep their plans secret.

Stryfe tapped his head with his finger. "I memorized the layout of Guerani Palace when it was under construction."

Roehan came to stand over them. "We will have only one chance to get you into that palace so we cannot make mistakes."

Taeron raised his brows. "You are going to take us in? How do you intend to get past their defenses?"

"There is only one way to do it." said Shamara. "Amyr, Chaela and myself will have to go with you. We will provide whatever shielding is necessary."

"Did you shield Dijana?" Taeron asked Chaela. By the red that crept into her cheeks, he knew that she had. "You are new to your powers Chaela ..."

"I can do it!" she exclaimed anxiously. "I _will_ do it!"

"None of you can do it if Staefyn knows you are coming," Taeron told them. "When we were younger, he developed his senses so that he could detect you, Shamara, your mother and Apolo from a considerable distance."

"Yori will provide a distraction," Amyr told him. "That is all we need Yori to do."

"Yori is a child!"

"Yori has great power, certainly enough to provide a brief distraction," said Jeshed. "I have been with him since he was born, so I know what he is capable of."

Shaking his head, Taeron said, "I do not like this plan."

"Staefyn won't kill us," argued Amyr.

"He cannot!" cried Shamara.

Taeron turned to look at Roehan and his wife who were standing with Guillem and Valter. "You are taking a great risk. Staefyn might not kill us, but Kai and his men won't even blink before shooting you down."

"We would take such a risk for my daughter," stated Neria and the three males nodded. "I trust your sorcerers."

"I am not comfortable risking Yori," Taeron shook his head.

"I would expect his father to say that." They all turned as Arora entered the tent accompanied by Apolo and Duo. She gave Amyr a censorious look.

He straightened his shoulders. "I have experienced his power and know what he is capable of."

"And we all felt Staefyn's power yesterday," said Apolo, giving Amyr the same look as his sister. This time he included Shamara in the glare. "Why am I not surprised to find you at the heart of a hare-brained plan?"

She looked down at her hands.

"Would you risk your own child in such a scheme?" Arora asked Shamara.

She lifted her head. "If he were here, I might. He has fire magic and Dagan has been training him..."

"Somehow I doubt Dagan would allow it."

"He would if I were held at Guerani Palace," sniffed Shamara.

"We have a plan," announced Neria imperiously. "You will help or you will be a hindrance."

Silence fell on the group until Duo said, "We can also cause a distraction at the gates by launching an assault. The older warriors in Meridon's clan are familiar with the hills and can move quietly. If we can surprise them, the chaos at the front coupled with Yori's distraction could be enough to draw Staefyn's attention."

Taeron was surprised that his father was agreeing to the plan when it hinged on the actions of his young grandson. "You think this will work?"

"It will work," said Arora, "if Apolo and I add our powers to Yori. We will make contact with him through a trance. Yori does not need to enter the trance to connect with us."

"Do you feel up to fighting again so soon?" Amyr asked Taeron. "If not..." he held out his hand. "Perhaps we can spend a week or two in a trance."

Taeron was not going to turn him down, but he looked at Arora. "Will you tell Trey? If you do not, he will be furious to discover that you have gone behind his back again."

"I will tell him tonight when he is in a conducive mood," she said with a half-smile that left no guessing as to when that might be. He wondered how often she manipulated her mate in such a manner.

"Then all that is left is for me to work the stiffness out of my injury." When he reached for Amyr's hand and their fingers twined, he quickly found himself in Guerani Palace – rather the Guerani Palace that he remembered from the trance that Amyr had taken him in.

"We have much work to do."

Wincing from the dull ache in his arm as he drew his sword, Taeron had the odd sense that they were being watched.


	86. Chapter 86 Turmoil at Guerani Palace

**Chapter 86**

They had no way of knowing what was happening on the Wasteland plains between the two armies except what little Yori could tell them from "what the ancestors tell me." Quynn had seen much that could not be explained in her own system, but she had a hard time believing that the spirits of long gone Guerani roamed Calabria watching out over their descendants. Yori tried to explain to her that they were all tied together. Alive or long gone, Guerani spirits touched each other, were linked in some nebulous consciousness. Whatever the reason for their existence or Yori's belief in their existence, Quynn chose to believe whatever they told Yori.

Since waking that morning, Dijana paced anxiously, wringing her hands, and now she was wearing a path in the stone of the garden, turning her gaze to the sky as if she expected winged warriors to appear and save her. But none did and Quynn thought it likely that Dijana's mother had been thoroughly warned of the sharp-shooting Varoonyans on the lookout for them. If they tried to assault the palace from the sky, they would be under heavy fire from the thralls armed with crossbows.

A noise at the door made Quynn turn from watching Dijana and she tensed as she usually did since Dijana's arrival a few days ago, expecting each time that Kai was coming for the Teralonian princess. When he did, Quynn would fight him knowing that Yori could protect and heal her if Staefyn could not. But the door opened to reveal Vaedra carrying a tray of food.

"Have you had any news?" asked Quynn with a glance towards Dijana who had seen the serving woman's arrival.

Vaedra shook her head. "Prince Staefyn has not returned, nor has Lord Kai."

"I suppose that has Xuxa ill-tempered." Neither of her powerful lovers were there to slake her lust for control over them. As an afterthought she asked, "She has not harmed Lady Keilana, has she?"

"They do not speak." Vaedra seemed relieved and Quynn guessed that she had grown protective of the house Caron female.

"What of Princess Cydeara?" asked Dijana.

Vaedra pressed her lips together and after casting a furtive glance at Dijana she said, "I have heard her making plans to escape back to Varoonya now that she has done what the warlord demanded."

Dijana did not seem relieved, rather she appeared to be even more alarmed. Did she think Cydeara would be a buffer between her and that Varoonyan creature? For whatever reason, Kai had become obsessed with claiming Dijana, and Quynn had noticed that Kai's desire for her had become proportionate to his hatred of Taeron. If he had wanted Dijana so much, he would have taken her when he left Teralon. Since he had opportunities to take her after fleeing Varoonya and did not until Taeron had gone to make her his wife, Quynn suspected he was using Dijana in his twisted revenge against Taeron for ruining his plans to rule Teralon and ultimately ousting Prince Rangyar to rule Varoonya through Cydeara. Taeron had become a thorn in Kai's backside that was embedded so deeply that he could not remove him. Dijana was a means to an end. He would use her to lure Taeron to his death.

"How does she plan to escape?" asked Quynn. "She is trapped on Calabria and as much a prisoner here as we are."

"She has learned of your ship."

"My ship!" The ship was hardly in pristine condition, but Quynn had grown attached to it and the thought of the Varoonyan woman stealing it outraged her. But there was nothing she could do to prevent it because she had not been allowed near it since landing. It would be too bad if Cydeara tried because there were security codes her grandfather built in that would prevent theft. Although she knew little of Cydeara, Quynn had already decided she would like to see her receive the nasty surprise Ivan Stryfe had wired into the pilot's seat.

Lowering her head as if she expected Quynn to beat her after delivering bad news, Vaedra ducked out of the room without offering any further information. Turning, Quynn saw Dijana starring at the platter of food, her face greener than the offerings on the platter. With a sigh, she walked over to her and she reached out to take one of the multi-legged creatures that had been baked and seasoned.

"If you don't think about what it is, it is actually tasty," she told Dijana.

Yori had been in the garden with Dijana, but now he hurried into the room. "I am hungry! Did she bring sand slug?"

Quynn smiled down at him and offered what she had chosen. "I have seen these in the garden." The garden was both beautiful and functional because the flowers attracted what they were now going to eat.

When Yori bit down on it, Quynn was afraid that Dijana was going to vomit when her hand flew to her mouth. "I am sorry, Dijana, that they did not bring any fruit or nuts," she told the other woman. "You are going to have to eat what they offer."

Although she clearly did not want to touch anything on the platter, and Quynn could sympathize with her after having gone through the same experience a few months ago when Kai had brought her to Guerani Palace. Knowing that she would not soon be rescued and that she must eat for the sake of the child she carried made it easier to stomach Calabrian fare. Soon enough she ceased to yearn for a juicy steak and accepted the crunchy, slimy or squishy creatures brought to her when Staefyn was not there to see that she was served at least some fruit.

Yori chose a shapeless mass from the platter and held it out to Dijana. "This is good."

She hesitated as she stared at what he held out to her, and she probably recognized it as sand slug since she had been on Calabria long enough to see everyone eating it. But Dijana had not eaten since arriving two days ago, and now as she took it from his hand there were tears in her eyes. When she raised it to her lips, Yori reached out to grasp her free hand and Quynn suspected that he calmed her enough to put the food in her mouth. Quynn knew it had the consistency of a thick custard with a thin crust that was either sweet or spicy depending on how it had been prepared. She had never actually seen a sand slug slithering about and having seen everyone else enjoy it almost to excess, Quynn found it easier to eat than most food appearing on her plate since coming to Guerani Palace.

The moment Dijana bit into it, Quynn wasn't surprised to see her initial gag followed by uncertain chewing and then relief that the food was palatable. The secret to eating the creepy crawlies, Quynn had found, was to pretend they were something else, so she often thought of sand slug as a cream filled pastry. Dijana ate another offered by Yori, but she balked at eating anything with its appendages still attached. Quynn and Yori finished those off although Dijana watched them eat the crunchy creatures with curiosity. Soon enough she would be eating them and Taeron would be in their debt for modifying her eating habits.

When they had finished the meal, Dijana began to pace again and Quynn went into the garden to sit on the bench. Yori sat beside her, so she put her arm around him and he rested his head against her bosom as he put his hand on her belly.

Quynn did not bother trying to talk to Yori since she knew he was communicating with his unborn sister. Instead she looked at Dijana who had followed them. "You should rest. All this worrying is tiring you out."

Dijana stopped before her and Quynn marveled again at the changes in Taeron's wife. She had heard that pregnant women glowed, but Dijana was radiant. Her hair had been pretty before, even when it had been crudely cut to fall just above her ears, but now it was a glossy gold that fell in thick waves over her shoulders. Having seen the braid that hung from Kai's belt, Quynn could imagine what Dijana's hair had been like before he cut it off. Her skin was clear with a pale golden tone offset by her emerald eyes. She had become so beautiful that Quynn felt dowdy compared to her.

"I remember the fighting on Teralon," she told Quynn. "Particularly the bodies left on the field, first the Varoonyans and later my own people. The Calabrians ripped through them with no difficulty with their long swords and swift movements. What is happening now that they are fighting each other? I don't want to imagine Taeron's body left on the field, burned on those awful pyres, but I cannot stop myself!"

Quynn had tried to put those thoughts out of her mind so she did not appreciate hearing Dijana voice them. She had been with the Calabrians when they rolled through the Teralonian rebels in the marshland and had marveled at their skill. There was a good reason for the high price a Calabrian could garner on the slave markets in the frontier worlds. The battle in the Wastelands would be long and bloody, especially when it included thralls that would fight with no concern for their own mortality.

"You must trust the gods," Yori spoke up.

"I must," agreed Dijana and Quynn wondered if Yori had somehow calmed her without touching her. Was that possible? Her son's power amazed Quynn and yet he was just a small boy, not even five years old.

Taking a seat on the other side of Yori, Dijana took his hand and soon she appeared to be serene. Quynn leaned down to kiss the top of his dark head, glad that he had eased Dijana's anxiety, and when he looked up to smile at her, she saw magic glowing in his golden eyes.

That night Yori awoke them both when he suddenly gasped and bolted up. Struggling to sit, Quynn realized that Yori was trembling. Dijana stirred on the other side but she did not awaken, so Quynn drew Yori to her. "Did you have a bad dream?" she whispered.

"Grandmama is hurt," Yori told her. He moved restlessly in her arms and Quynn felt a moment of panic about Amyr but she quickly realized that Yori would have felt it had something had happened to his father.

"If she heals herself, or if another heals her, I can help," Yori surprised her by saying, "but she does not stop fighting."

If Lady Arora could not stop fighting, that meant she was surrounded, that she was probably separated from her brother and from Amyr. Quynn wondered what that meant for her father if he fought with the emperor, although she knew she should not worry about him because he had been fighting battles such as the one waged in the Wastelands long before she came to Calabria. And where was Amyr if he did not help his mother? Was he with Taeron? Was he able to protect Taeron and could he protect himself?

"Mama, papa is not hurt," Yori whispered to her, easily reading her thoughts. She had probably shouted them in his head. "I don't think Taeron is hurt either if my father has not used his powers to heal him."

They stayed awake for hours until Yori announced that he had to help his father and Quynn watched anxiously as her young son looked as though he were concentrating, his eyes glowing with intense magic until he finally sagged against her, exhausted. He mumbled that his grandmother was safe before he fell asleep and Quynn did not wake him for more details.

The following morning she awoke long after second sunrise, and since both Yori and Dijana were sound asleep, she carefully left the bed and dressed quickly and quietly. She had no way of knowing what had happened on the battlefield, but she sensed that the fighting had ended because Yori had fallen into a contented sleep. That surely meant that his Guerani relatives were still alive.

The first sign that all had not gone well on the battlefield were the servants standing aimlessly in the corridors. Then she heard muffled shouting coming from the direction of Xuxa's chambers. Quynn had never gone in that wing of the palace before, but now she approached warily until she saw Vaedra cowering in the corridor near a set of ornate double doors to the chamber that had been meant for the emperor.

Seeing her, Vaedra hurried to her and grasped her arm. "My lady, do not go in there! Lady Xuxa is enraged!"

Ignoring the hand that Vaedra had clamped around her wrist, Quynn approached the door until she could hear Xuxa clearly. "Kill that useless female!"

Since they were all useless females in Xuxa's mind, Quynn wondered which of them she wanted dead.

"As I recall, marrying her was your idea." Quynn recognized Staefyn's voice and she was surprised that he was not at the battle. How long had he been at the palace? Did he fight at all? "You should not be surprised to learn this day that most men honor the oaths they have given."

"Then you should have forced them to give you their oaths!" she shrieked in a voice that made Quynn cringe and Vaedra shudder.

"And you expected me to lead an army of oath breakers?"

"You worthless bastard! You never expected them to fight for you!"

"They _were_ fighting for me," he surprised Quynn by saying. "I never expected them to fight for Kai."

"Then when they return for that female, I will hand over her lifeless body!"

"I made an oath to Keilana..." started Staefyn but she cut him off.

"You had no intention of honoring your marriage to that insipid slut!"

"I will protect the females of my house."

Xuxa's mocking laughter chilled Quynn's blood. "The only female you will protect is me, certainly not that worthless female."

Quynn heard footsteps approaching the door and she stumbled back, but not before the doors were thrown open and Staefyn stood in the doorway. There was a flicker of surprise mingled with alarm in his eyes when he saw her, and after a wary glance over his shoulder, he stepped into the hall and slammed the doors behind him. He was wearing black, a long sword at his side but it did not look as though he had fought at all. Quynn got beat up worse fighting Stryfe for food at the table when they were growing up than Staefyn had now. She would guess that the bruise on his face was fresh and delivered by the abusive harridan to whom he was bonded.

Taking her arm and Vaedra's, he quickly guided them away from the room and did not speak until they turned the corner. "Get Keilana and meet me in your room."

"What happened?" she demanded. "Did you even fight, Staefyn? I did not realize that you were a coward in addition to being a traitor."

"This is Xuxa and Kai's war," he told her. "I am only a means to an end. They all planned to kill me once I had taken my father's throne, Kai, Xuxa and those cowards of house Caron."

Quynn narrowed her gaze on him. "You knew about Kai?"

"As did you, yet you never told me his plans."

She felt remorse, but it was fleeting when she reminded herself that she was his prisoner, not his confidante. "Since when does the all-knowing Prince Staefyn need the help of an ignorant human female?"

Staefyn snorted. "You are far from ignorant, Quynn. Now do as I say. There are thralls in the palace that probably have orders to kill us. I will distract as many as I can until you can return to your room."

He left her then before she could ask him anything about the battle, and since he seemed anxious about Keilana's safety, she hurried with Vaedra to find Staefyn's wife. Keilana had just bathed and had not even dressed when Quynn burst into her room without warning. Dropping her clothing in surprise, she cried out and stumbled back until she realized who had interrupted her. Quynn was horrified to see her shriveled and scarred body before Vaedra hurried forward to snatch up the tunic she had dropped to cover her nakedness. By the gods, Quynn hoped the men of her house died horrifically on the battlefield for what they had done to her!

"Lady Quynn! What are you doing here?"

"Hurry and dress. You must come to my room!"

"What is happening?" she asked as Vaedra slipped the tunic over her head as she quickly pulled on matching pants.

"I do not know yet. I overhead Xuxa ordering Staefyn to kill you."

Keilana gasped in shock.

"He won't do it," Quynn assured her and Keilana seemed to understand why because she pushed her feet into her shoes and hurried from the room with Quynn.

When they got to the end of the corridor, Quynn heard the sounds of booted footsteps approaching and the jangle of weapons, so she seized Keilana's hand and with Vaedra they ran in the opposite direction. The sound of breaking wood as they smashed in doors made them run faster to reach Quynn's chamber in another wing of the palace . They had to change directions two more times when they almost ran into thralls that Quynn feared were looking for Keilana.

They finally reached the room where they found Staefyn waiting. He barely spared a glance for his wife. "You are safe! When I got here and you were not here already I feared they had taken you prisoner."

She gave him a wry smile. "I am already a prisoner."

Yori and Dijana had been sleeping undisturbed by Staefyn, but now they both stirred and Yori saw Staefyn or felt his presence because he scrambled out of bed and hurried to him. "Did you help papa heal grandmama? I was not strong enough!"

Staefyn tousled Yori's hair. "Why would I do such a thing?" But Quynn saw his wink and she was surprised to realize that Staefyn must sent have his healing powers to Amyr.

Dijana stepped forward and Quynn saw that she was close to tears. "What of Taeron? Do you know if … if …?"

Crossing to her, Staefyn put his hands on her shoulders and she tried to twist away, but he held her before him and peered down into her eyes. "He is not dead, princess, but he has received a grievous injury. He will be cared for and soon he will be pounding down the door to my palace to reach you."

"Xuxa was very angry. Tell us what happened in the Wastelands," demanded Quynn.

Staefyn released Dijana and turned to look at her. "House Caron turned on the thralls. The battle was fierce, and I watched long enough to see that Kai's men were defeated before returning to the palace where I was greeted with loving words from my bond mate."

She had remained quiet, but now Keilana spoke. "The warriors betrayed my house?"

Looking at her now as if she were an interloper instead of his wife, Staefyn said, "The warriors of house Caron gave an oath to my father and they kept that oath. The moment your father laid his hand on my mother and threatened her life, he broke his oath to the emperor and the warriors of his house could no longer honor their oaths to him."

She clenched her fists at her side, probably understanding more about Calabrian oaths than Quynn did. Some day she would have Stryfe explain it to her although that would probably take more time than it was worth.

"What of my brothers?" Quynn wondered if she really cared about the bastards having seen what they had done to her, but they were all that was left to her as family.

"They are dead," he told her bluntly with the merest flicker of a glance at her. "Killed by their own men."

Keilana gasped and Quynn hurried to hold her when she looked as if she were going to faint.

"You are a heartless bastard!" Quynn snapped at Staefyn.

"Heartless bastard?" His brows lifted. "I should think that she would appreciate the news since they regularly beat her. They would have done much worse if her vile father had not planned to use her to bring Taeron into his cursed house."

Keilana pushed Quynn away and she took a step towards Staefyn, and now she was shaking with anger. "How...how do you know these things? Have you used your sorcery to read my mind?"

He gave her a grim smile. "Not all that difficult, female, but I also sifted through the black thoughts of your brothers. I will spare you the details of their ultimate plans for you, but I will tell you that you should be rejoicing in their deaths."

"I would rather rejoice in yours!" she cried out furiously. "You have played me for a fool! You are bonded to that horrid creature and yet you made an oath to me! Then you used your sorcery in a loathsome attempt to fool me into believing that you … that we ..."

Staefyn snorted derisively. "Why are you complaining, female? Did I not give you pleasure?"

"Staefyn!" exclaimed Quynn, now angry for his flippant treatment of a woman who had been used cruelly by her own family.

He turned his attention back to her, dismissing Keilana with one last contemptuous glare. "I married her only because Xuxa demanded it, just as Taeron would have married her only because my father demanded it. Why would Taeron do otherwise when his heart belong to Dijana? He never would have had any feelings for that house Caron bitch and she knew it. I can feel nothing but disgust for a female that would use any male, let alone the brother of my heart, so callously."

Quynn could see that Keilana was wavering between venting anger or tears and so she stood stone still, her eyes burning as she glared at Staefyn.

"I heard you tell Xuxa that you honor your oaths. You made one to her," Quynn reminded him sharply.

"And I am honoring that oath now. Xuxa wants her dead, and while I have little use for the female, I did give her my oath and I must protect her regardless of what Xuxa wants or what I may wish to do. Bar the door after I leave and do not open it to anyone but me."

"What are you planning to do?" demanded Quynn, lunging to grasp his arm before he could slip out the door.

"I am gathering what few men house Caron left behind and we will defend the palace against Kai." His gaze moved over the women in the room before resting on Yori. "If I fail, you must protect them until your father and Taeron get here."

"How long will that be?" asked Keilana.

He ignored her and reached out to put his hand on Quynn's cheek. "Yori will keep you safe. Taeron will wait only long enough to be healed before launching an attack on the palace. Gods willing he can catch Kai in the mountains before he returns." His hand dropped away and he left without acknowledging Keilana.

Quynn realized that Vaedra had slipped out after him, but she could not waste time bringing her back. With Dijana's help, she pulled as many of the furnishings as the two women could manage against the closed door while Keilana walked out of the room to sit in the garden. What she and Dijana were able to do seemed inadequate especially when the door to the garden could not be barred. They had no way of knowing when they would be rescued and they had to eat something. Even Quynn was squeamish about catching bugs in the garden, having tolerated the food thus far only because it had been prepared. She had been horrified and repulsed when she was on Teralon and she saw the imperial warriors feasting on the repulsive creatures they found in the marshlands, had refused flatly anything Amyr offered her. She hoped that her husband and brother came soon because she needed to provide nourishment to her child as did Dijana.

After she was satisfied with what they were able to do although the mountain of furniture was unlikely to keep even a couple of thralls from breaking through, Quynn went to the garden where Keilana had remained without helping them. She sat staring at the hands in her lap and she did not look up when Quynn sat beside her. Quynn could not imagine what the other woman had endured from the men of her house, but she could understand how alone she must feel now.

"I do not want your pity," Keilana said without raising her head. "Nor do I wish to hear any word of sympathy. Not that you would believe otherwise, Prince Staefyn was right about my brothers. I am glad that they are dead."

Although Keilana did not wish to hear it, Quynn said, "I am sorry, Keilana, for what has happened."

Now Keilana raised her head to look at her. "Sorry that my husband cares about you more than me? Sorry that he is more concerned about Princess Dijana than he is for his own wife? Sorry that I have no place to go? There are no males left of my house, so the emperor will reward it to a worthy warlord. I think we both know who that will be. What will become of me? If that heartless bastard is killed, I will have nothing! If that heartless bastard is allowed to live, I will still have nothing! He does not want me, cannot feel anything for me, is bonded to another!"

Quynn felt guilty for regretting speaking to her at all.

That night her bed was quite crowded with Yori and Dijana, and she was surprised when Keilana chose to sleep on the floor. She was disquieted to imagine that Keilana was accustomed to going without comfort, that this was not the first time she had lain curled in a ball on the floor. Dijana slept restlessly, probably still worried about Taeron after Staefyn told her that he had been wounded in the fighting. She did not sleep until Yori comforted her telling her that strong healing magic had been used on her mate. Quynn's own worries were abated as well because she was sure that Amyr had been the one to heal her brother.

Trapped in the room with Dijana, Taeron's wife, and Keilana, his rejected bride, Quynn was sure that the following days would stressful and she was not mistaken. Two women could not be less alike, and while Dijana had no prejudice against Keilana, Keilana surely felt bitterness towards her. In her place, Quynn would. Keilana could hardly blame Dijana for what had happened with Taeron. His love for Dijana had grown so deep on Norvana that he had sacrificed his honor. Such a love could not be denied. And yet Keilana could be justified in her bitterness after Taeron's very public rejection of her led to marriage to a man that was bonded to another woman and who cared even less for her than Taeron. They did not speak to each other as Dijana sat in the garden on the far bench and Keilana sat in the room on the floor, her back against the wall, hugging her drawn up legs. Quynn had never seen a more miserable pair. If anyone deserved to indulge in self-pity it was her after spending months imprisoned in this palace forced to witness the hell in which Staefyn lived.

So she stayed with Yori and did not converse with either women because she did not want them to think she was choosing one over another. Taeron was her brother and she loved him, so she wanted him to be happy, and she had grown to care about Staefyn as another brother. She worried about him now as she sat with Yori in her lap, waiting for the inevitable attack on Guerani Palace by Kai and the remaining thralls. Her young son should not be comforting her, and yet she needed his touch to keep her calm when every sound from the corridor made her worry that Kai was coming for Dijana. If he came for Dijana, he would not stop at taking her, and if he got past Staefyn, he would not balk at killing her and the emperor's grandson after the defeat of his army.

As they sat together, Yori told her what he had been doing during the many days that they had been separated. He spoke of Jeshed as often as he did his father.

Quynn realized that she did not really know Jeshed very well since he had become a man, and yet now she could call him brother as well. Yori certainly loved him as an uncle and based on his stories, Quynn realized that Jeshed had endeared himself to not only Taeron and Stryfe, but to Larya and Quynn's father as well. She remembered the woman that had placed the bracelet on her wrist and wondered where she had gotten it, where she had come from and if Jeshed had any memory of how he had come to be in the bracelet. Was he a dragon or was he a person? Yori told her that when Staefyn took him from Edgeland Fortress, Staefyn had trapped Jeshed with a collar like her own. She knew that Staefyn had done it to keep Jeshed from following him and that he could have done worse, but she was heartsick to think of how Jeshed felt to lose the ability to shift when she knew how it had affected him after becoming a man.

The first sun was starting to set when Yori suddenly became still in her lap and Quynn thought he might be sleeping, but when she looked down at him, she saw that his eyes were open and he had the blank look that she had come to associate with a trance. Quynn knew that she could enter his trance by taking his hands, and she was about to do it when there was pounding at the door.

"Open the door, Quynn!" It was Staefyn.

She carried Yori to the bed and then went to the door with Keilana and Dijana who had come back into the chamber upon hearing Staefyn's voice. After the three of them managed to move all the furniture out of the way, Quynn jerked open the door. "What has happened?"

Then she gasped and fell back when Staefyn stumbled into the room, his face bruised and bloody.

Looking up she was horrified to find Warlord Kai standing in the doorway, a sword in his hand.


	87. Chapter 87 Taeron faces Kai

**Chapter 87**

Dijana shrank back in horror at the sight of the man filling the doorway, long sword in hand, his crimson gaze malevolent as it raked over the females in the room, and when it finally came to rest on her, she fought to control her fear as his lips curved in a smile that made her insides twist in remembrance of what that smile meant.

Not waiting to suffer what he intended, Dijana darted towards the garden, not really knowing where she would go but needing to put distance between them. But he reached her in two long strides and caught her arm in a painful, punishing grip before hauling her back against his body.

He lowered his head to the crook of her neck and when she felt his hot breath she swallowed nausea. "My sweet Dijana. How you have changed! I look forward to making you mine again."

"Never!" she cried with more bravado than she felt.

"Let her go!" demanded Quynn who took a step towards them. The stones at her throat were glowing brightly and Dijana could smell burning flesh.

"Stop!" Prince Staefyn stumbled to Quynn, and seizing her around the waist, he pulled her back. He whispered something in her ear that made her look sharply at him and the stones ceased to glow. Staefyn lifted his hand to her throat and Dijana knew by the bluish white light flowing from him to her that he was healing her.

Kai snorted with disgust before he jerked Dijana around to face the doorway and she was not surprised to find Princess Cyeara waiting with a sickening smile of triumph curving her lips.

"Come taste the female, wife," Kai offered, thrusting her at the other woman. "You and I shall drain her and leave her empty corpse behind for that bastard Taeron to find."

At the mention of Taeron, Cydeara gasped in delight and seized Dijana. She tried to escape using what Amyr had taught her, and while she managed to break Cydeara's hold, Kai seized her hair and catching her with an arm around her waist, he held her so tightly that she could not even struggle.

He jerked her head to the side, baring her neck to his wife.

Laughing, Cydeara swiped her sharp nails across her flesh and Dijana heard Keilana cry out in horror as blood sprayed from the wound across Cydeara's face before she clamped her mouth on the wound and sucked in several mouthfuls of blood. But she suddenly stumbled back coughing and wheezing and the stench of burning flesh was as the blood that had landed on the Varoonyan female sizzled on her skin. Her lips were blistered, and as she faced Kai, her eyes wide with fear, blood leaked from the corners, from her nose and while what was left of her lips tried to form words, she began to convulse before falling to the floor. Dijana was sickened by Kai's laughter as he watched his wife's body dissolve before their eyes until there was only a pile of unrecognizable flesh that burst into flame.

Kai moved her away from the burning mass. "Foolish female. Testing your blood was the most use I have ever gotten from her." Yanking her around to face the others, he thrust her at Staefyn who released Quynn to catch Dijana in his arms.

"Remove the impurity of that bastard's blood from her," he demanded of Staefyn

Dijana looked at Staefyn, terrified that he would comply. The Varoonyan was his warlord and she had no reason to believe he would help her keep Kai at bay, but she prayed that his affection for Taeron would prevail

To her relief, Staefyn shook his head. "I will not!"

Kai sneered at him. "That was the wrong answer, stupid sorcerer." He lunged towards the bed where Yori was lying, but before he could reach the innocent child, Dijana was shocked to see Keilana cut him off.

"Leave him alone!" she cried out. "He is but a child!"

Sweeping out his arm, he struck Keilana aside as if she were a pesky gnat, but she rolled nimbly to her feet and leaped at him, sinking her teeth into his hand when he reached out to seize Yori. Dijana was horrified to watch him fling her around as Kai's blood poured out the sides of Keilana's mouth, and when he finally slammed her against the wall and she slid away from him unconscious, she had taken a chunk of his flesh.

He glared at the injury she had done to him for a moment before he crossed to her to seize her unconscious body and was about to sink his teeth into the tender flesh at her neck when Staefyn shot towards him to grasp his arm.

"I will do it!" he cried out. "Let her go!"

For a moment Kai stared at the woman hanging limply from his hand, saliva drooling over his lips in anticipation of feeding from her. Dijana knew from experience how difficult it was for him not to take her blood at this point, even for a powerful Varoonyan master like him.

"If you don't release her, I will not heal Dijana," Staefyn warned him. "I do not care if you kill us all, I will not make her pure for you unless you leave my wife alone."

"Your wife," sneered Kai, his throat tight. "Her people betrayed you. She deserves to die."

"Let her go." Dijana did not want to be disappointed when Kai released Keilana to sag to the floor, but she knew it meant she was doomed. Staefyn knelt by Keilana for a moment and after touching her briefly, he straightened and turned to look at Dijana.

"You are not going to do it!" cried out Quynn anxiously.

He did not look at her. "I must."

Kai threw back his head in laughter. "That is what I like about you, sorcerer! No matter where your foolish choices lead you, you honor your word."

As Staefyn came to Dijana, she intended to scramble away, but she suddenly found it impossible to move and she was mesmerized by the glowing golden light emanating from his eyes. When the healing light radiated from his hands and he laid them on her, she was enveloped by the same light and her body grew warm for several moments until she felt cooling pleasure race through her.

She felt dizzy and had to close her eyes for several seconds and when she opened them, she was no longer in the room with the others, but standing on the edge of the pool where Taeron had claimed her on Norvana. Now she was with Staefyn.

He glanced around for a moment, a wry smile on his lips. "A fitting place to lose one's innocence," he remarked before returning his gaze to hers. "We must return soon, but I have brought you here to tell you that you will no longer have the protection of Taeron's magic from Kai."

Dijana could not be angered that he chose to protect Keilana. "If he does not kill me, he will enthrall me again!"

"He will not have enough time," Staefyn told her. "Taeron is approaching to rescue you. Although I knew of his plans, Yori still managed to distract me when I was leading the men to repel Kai's attack on the palace just long enough for Kai to breach the gate. Yori will keep the thralls on the roof to keep them from shooting down your rescuers."

"How will he do that?" she asked and then wondered why she bothered since she was standing in a trance on Norvana with Staefyn.

Staefyn shrugged. "Yori is a clever boy. I trust him to figure that out. Keilana may have unwittingly given Yori enough time to do whatever it is that he plans. One way or another, this will come to an end today. It is in Taeron's hands now."

Before she could respond, she became dizzy again as the pond spun around her until it was gone and she saw Kai flinging Staefyn away from her. He reached for Dijana, but before he could touch her, the ground beneath the palace shook so violently that they all lost their balance and cracks appeared in the walls.

"Ancestors!" cried out Staefyn as he clamored to his feet and hurried across the room to where Yori was lying on the bed. The child was surrounded by blue light but he appeared to be sleeping undisturbed by the shaking floor.

Before Staefyn could reach the child, Kai bolted across the room and seized him, probably sensing that if Staefyn reached him, his magic would become insurmountable. Before he could strike him with his huge, meaty fist, several thralls hurried into the room.

"The gate is under attack!"

Snarling in frustration, Kai tossed Staefyn aside to glare his men. "Repulse them, you fools!"

"Canyon beasts are charging! They will break through!"

Kai thought for only a moment before he made a sound of disgust and reached out to seize Dijana's arm. "Bring the rest of them! We will welcome our visitors properly."

As the warlord dragged her along with him, Dijana had no way of knowing what was happening behind her although she heard Quynn's outraged shouts when they must have tried to take Yori. Kai strode through the corridors without stopping until he came to a wide, open area that resembled the reception hall in the imperial palace. The old woman that she recognized as Prince Staefyn's bonded mate was waiting with her cowering servant whose face was bruised, blood crusted at the corners of her mouth.

"There you are! What are you doing to repel that attack?" demanded Xuxa shrilly as she kicked Vaedra away.

Kai had no chance to answer before another thrall rushed in. "The walls have been breached!"

Xuxa shrieked in fury and she went to Staefyn who she slapped while viciously scoring his face with her fingernails. "You are worthless! I should have bonded Taeron! He would have led his army to victory! He would have held the palace against invasion! He would have ..."

Staefyn seized her wrists when she would have struck at him again. "You should have," he agreed through gritted teeth. "But he would not have done the things that I have done for you. He would not have let you twist his mind as you have done mine."

Laughing, Kai pulled Dijana with him to the chairs that would have served as a throne had the emperor used the palace for its intended purpose. When he sat, he pulled Dijana onto his lap and held her tightly with his arm around her waist. "I have longed for this day, Dijana, to have you back in my arms, to hold you, to taste you."

He tore her tunic to expose her, and she cried out in pain when he sank his teeth into the flesh of her shoulder were Taeron had once marked her and which had caused Kai pain in the past. But now he growled in satisfaction as he drew her blood into his mouth and she fought to hold back the burning arousal from his feeding by concentrating on the pain he gave her.

"You are an animal," she forced out. "My husband will spit you like the pig you are."

He raised his head and seizing her chin, he forced her to meet his crimson gaze. "I am going to kill him, Dijana, and you are going to help me. Remember how you helped me in the past? This time we will not fail."

He was trying to mesmerize her with his eyes, to enthrall her again, but this time Dijana knew what he was doing and she struggled to escape his hold, twisting her head, closing her eyes to keep from becoming his slave. She would not betray Taeron! She could not!

The far doors suddenly burst open and Kai was forced to break his gaze to look at the intruders. He grunted with annoyance when he saw that it was not Taeron. Lord Duo strode into the hall, his long sword drawn, which he used to easily skewer and slice up the two thralls that hurried to attack him.

After removing the threat, his eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on his daughter. "Quynn!"

"Father!" She took only one step towards him before a commotion behind her made her spin to face the direction they had entered the hall. Dijana was as shocked as Quynn to see Prince Amyr advancing holding his unconscious son in his arms, his sisters on either side of him. "Amyr!"

As she rushed to him, Staefyn shrank back, holding Xuxa by her wrists and Dijana realized the reason when she saw that Lord Duo had been followed by the emperor and his wife and her brother. "Stay back!" he shouted at them.

"Staefyn!" cried Lady Arora and Dijana could see her eyes glistening with tears. "Let us help you!"

"Set her aside and come to us. You belong with us," said Trey, holding out his free hand as he held his sword in the other. Dijana knew what he planned to do with that sword just as Staefyn did because he put his bonded mate behind him to protect her and made no move towards his parents.

Kai rumbled with laughter. "I see this will end today, one way or the other." He slid his tongue up Dijana's neck and breathed into her ear. "I intend for it to end with you in my arms, my sweet Dijana."

"You will have to kill everyone in the room for that to happen!" Dijana was overjoyed to see her father fly into the room through the wide opening to the balcony overlooking the canyon. He was followed by her mother along with Guillem and Valter. Although her mother held chakrams in her hands and her father was prepared to use his glaive, Kai held Dijana before him as a shield.

The Varoonyan snorted derisively. "Do you think I cannot kill the lot of you?" His contemptuous gaze swept over the Teralonians and Calabrians. "Not one of you can challenge me."

"You will not leave this room alive," warned Lord Duo, raising his sword menacingly. Standing just behind him, the emperor and Lady Arora along with Lord Apolo also lifted theirs. "The canyon beasts are below waiting to feast on your corpse although you will probably give them a nasty case of the runs."

Kai burst into mocking laughter. "They will be feasting on yours after I kill your bastard. Where is he? Will he make you fight his battle?"

"No one fights my battles."

Dijana sucked in her breath as Taeron strode into the hall. She rarely saw this side of him, the fierce warrior now making an appearance to face the warlord. As he advanced, he reached both hands back over his shoulders and drew two long swords, and when he came to the middle if the hall, he stopped. "Release my mate."

"She was my mate before she was ever yours," boasted Kai, and for emphasis, he leaned down to clamp his mouth on the wound he made on her shoulder, drawing in more of her blood. "And she will be mine long after you are naught but canyon beast shit."

"Step before me then and take her in honorable combat," said Taeron calmly.

Kai brought Dijana tighter against him. "Honorable combat?" He nodded to the Teralonians in the air and then to the Calabrians holding their swords ready, thralls dead at their feet. "The moment I put her aside, you have but to watch as they try to kill me."

"Try?" goaded Neria from above. "I will cleave your head from your shoulders even before you take one breath."

"No!" Taeron raised a sword to stop her. "I, alone, will face the warlord. If he is victorious, he will take everything that is mine."

Kai raised a brow and he turned his greedy gaze to look at the emperor. "Everything? Would you give me his lands? Would you make me your crown prince?"

Dijana could not believe that Taeron would make such a deal with Kai nor would she believe that the emperor could agree to it, but Trey nodded in ascent. "Knowing you will kill me at the first opportunity, I will agree to his terms. Should you defeat my crown prince, you will take his place. I vow there will be no interference this day and no retribution in the future."

The Varoonyan laughed, the sound chilling Dijana. "Then I accept the challenge." Grasping Dijana's chin, he turned her face and she gasped when he covered her mouth with his own, stroking her bared flesh possessively with his free hand as he held her tight around the waist. Lifting his head, he smiled down at her. "After I have rid myself of that bastard, I will dispose of the one in your belly so that you may bear my son."

"Never!" she cried out, nauseous at the thought of submitting to him, horrified by his intention to destroy her unborn child.

He suddenly thrust her away and she stumbled only a few steps before she was caught in strong arms and borne aloft by her father. As Kai descended the steps from the throne, drawing his own swords, Xuxa cackled with delight.

"You are a fool, Trey! After he has killed your pet, you will die next, but only after you watch everyone you care about die around you, and you will watch that Guerani whore die at your feet."

The emperor did not respond, did not even look at the woman or the son that was protecting her. Dijana saw that Keilana had regained consciousness and after Vaedra had helped her stand, she moved to the balcony to get as far from the coming fight as possible. The dark-haired, pale female looked over the edge and then shrank back in horror, and remembering Lord Duo's claim about the canyon beasts, Dijana knew what Keilana had seen. She shuddered in her father's embrace as she remembered the gruesome creatures from the day Taeron had marched to battle and she imagined them waiting below.

Kai approached Taeron with his swords ready to battle and Dijana remembered the last time the two men had faced each other. The first time Kai had never fought Taeron before so he did not know what to expect, but the warlord was forewarned, and with the promise of gaining an empire, he would fight viciously to prevail. She could see on his face that he was confident in his ability to best Taeron who stood calmly waiting for him. If he had been affected by Kai handling her, he did not show it. The emperor might trust Taeron to the point of risking his life and the lives of his wife and children, but Dijana was terrified of a future dominated by the warlord.

Stopping almost within reach of Taeron, Kai flexed his arms and swiped his swords before him, but Taeron did not even flinch. "When you are dead," he told Taeron, "Dijana will be mine. She has been mine these past few days, lying with me, crying out for me as I took her blood and her body."

Dijana's insides twisted with disgust at the image he gave Taeron. Even if he did defeat Kai, would he hold her with thoughts of Kai touching her?

"Do you think that matters to me?" asked Taeron as he met Kai's gaze without blinking. "Even if you were not lying because you were barred from the palace until shortly before my arrival, I would have spent the rest of my days making her forget what you did to her. I love her, regardless of what a foul creature from the netherworld has done to her."

Dijana's heart swelled with love for Taeron.

Kai's smile faded. "Then imagine what I will do to her when you are dead, bastard, what I will do to the child in her belly. I will allow it life, and then one day I will use it as I used her before I take its life, drinking every last drop of your blood from its dying body."

"Are you going to fight?" asked Lord Duo with annoyance. "Or are you going to continue boring us with your empty threats?"

Quynn snorted. "You have no idea how long he can keep it up, father. I have had to tolerate it for months now."

Taeron used the distraction of Kai's outrage to lunge with an attack that Kai parried easily. The warlord laughed as he deflected the following series of blows that Taeron delivered with both his swords swinging. Kai outright laughed at his efforts and Dijana was dismayed to see that Taeron seemed to have difficulty handling the two long swords, and she wondered if his injury on the battlefield was hindering him now. Her gaze flew to the emperor who surely knew his own life depended on the outcome of the fight, but the man stood with his lips pressed together, watching with no emotion as Taeron swung the heavy long blades only to find his blows blocked by his opponent.

After several moments when only the sounds of Taeron's blades ringing against Kai's could be heard, Kai made a sound of disgust and pressed his own attack. At first Taeron's parries barely blocked his and several times only Taeron's speed as he jumped back kept Kai from slicing his flesh with the sharp edges of his swords. Kai drove him back, again and again, and Dijana felt true fear that Taeron could not defeat him, that Kai's evil would prove stronger.

But after one deadly swipe of the sword, Taeron leaped into the air to avoid it, coming down behind Kai who had anticipated the move to block a blow that would have taken his head from his shoulders. Taeron did not betray his feelings to have been thwarted, but Kai laughed.

"You did not think I would allow you to do that to me again?" he mocked Taeron as he lunged at him, probably expecting him to be off balance.

"No," said Taeron after easily side-stepping him. "But I have sufficiently tested you and now we may begin the fight."

With those words, a soft golden glow began to rise from his body and Taeron began to move so fast that Dijana had difficulty keeping track of him. Although Kai managed to block his deadliest attacks, Taeron slipped his defenses several times and soon the warlord's robes were stained with his own blood from several wounds. Realizing that he was facing a formidable opponent, his wide eyes betraying the terror he felt at facing a man oozing magic, Kai began to fight in earnest and Dijana wanted to look away from the fight but she could not. The first time Kai managed to wound Taeron, Dijana cried out as if she felt the pain herself, and she noticed that Kai immediately danced away from Taeron, his eyes warily trained on the wound he had put on Taeron's arm.

Taeron did not even seem to notice the wound as he continued to fight with the deadly skill the gods had granted their paladin. His movements were more like those of a graceful dancer as he twirled and leaped, his swinging swords little more than a blur. Dijana was surprised that Kai managed to block as many attacks as he did, and the two men looked as though they were performing a dance together rather than fighting to the death. The second time Kai slipped his guard, he would have fatally wounded Taeron with a cut to his thigh, and Kai leaped back, expecting the spray of blood from the cutting of an artery, but Taeron had nimbly turned aside to avoid his blade.

Dropping back, Taeron narrowed his gaze on Kai for a moment as the two men circled each other, Kai looking for an opening. But Taeron's stare suddenly became blank although his feet continued to move. Dijana thought he looked distracted as he stared at Kai without blinking, and having seen that look before, she realized the reason and her gaze flew to Prince Staefyn. She was horrified to see that he had the same blank look on his face, that he was distracting Taeron! Looking around frantically at the other Guerani sorcerers, she saw that they were watching the fight, oblivious to what Staefyn was doing.

She opened her mouth to scream, to warn someone of what was happening when Kai lunged at Taeron who suddenly crossed his swords before him and he held his ground as the blade of Kai's sword came down. Taeron's swords took the brunt of the blow, but Taeron suddenly released his swords and as they clattered to the floor, he bared his neck to the blade that surged forward. Instead of shouting in triumph as his blade nicked Taeron's neck, Kai screamed with the same horror that Dijana felt as Taeron's blood sprayed forth, splattering over Kai's face. Kai stumbled back, and despite the blood pumping from him like a fountain, Taeron seized the Varoonyan's wrist to keep him close as Kai tried to escape.

Then Dijana smelled the foul odor of burning flesh and she was horrified and overjoyed to see Taeron's blood eating away Kai's face. She knew then why Kai had been leery of wounding Taeron, that he had been looking for one fatal thrust that he could escape before Taeron's blood could harm him. Now the two men slipped on the bloody floor and they rolled together, Taeron's blood pouring out and covering Kai who screamed in agony until Taeron managed to make a controlled roll to his sword. He straddled the Varoonyan, and raising the sword of the crown prince, he thrust it into the chest of the other man, jerked it out and jammed it up through his chin until it emerged from the top of his skull.

Kai's body convulsed once and then was still. Taeron rolled weakly away from him, and as he struggled to his feet, Dijana could see that he was affected by the loss of blood, that he had allowed Kai to give him a mortal wound to defeat him. Now Taeron stumbled weakly a few steps, blood pouring from his wound, and he held out his arms, not to his father, not to Amyr and not to Dijana whose father had descended to the floor now that Kai lay dead.

He reached for Staefyn, and when Staefyn made a move to go towards him, Xuxa screamed with rage and clung to him tenaciously until he spun and struck her with the back of his hand. Dijana hurried to Taeron just as Staefyn reached him and when she would have prevented him from touching her mate, Staefyn quickly brushed her aside and dragged Taeron into his arms.

Staefyn covered his wound with his hand and leaned down to press his cheek to Taeron's. "Beloved brother," he crooned softly into his ear, "I am with you."

Taeron was enveloped in blue-white light that was so brilliant that Dijana had to look away.


	88. Chapter 88 Staefyn chooses

**Chapter 88**

Seeing that Taeron was dying in Staefyn's arms, Amyr thrust Yori to Quynn and hurried with Shamara and Chaela to Staefyn where he was joined by his mother and Apolo. They had but to join their powers to save him, but they needed Staefyn more than any of them because his healing was stronger than them all. Amyr had no way of knowing what Staefyn would do now that he was captured and his warlord was dead. He should not have doubted Staefyn because his brother did not hesitate before drawing in all their powers and directing the healing spell that coaxed Taeron's heart to beat and forced his body to produce blood to replace what now stained the floor. It was enough to keep Taeron alive.

"What are you doing?" shrieked Xuxa hysterically. "Let him die!"

For just a moment, Staefyn wavered and Amyr knew that Staefyn could not help being torn by the female to whom he was bonded and the brother of his heart. If he left them to go to her, Taeron would probably die and Amyr would not be surprised that his mate's pull was stronger. But Staefyn remained with them, and if anything, the intensity of his magic increased until Taeron moaned softly as he flirted with consciousness. Staefyn was trying to send him into a healing trance, and Amyr was shocked to feel Taeron fighting it. Taeron's resistance was strong, but Staefyn's magic was stronger.

When Taeron finally relaxed, Staefyn's hold on their magic eased and they all fell back drained. Staefyn turned to hold out his hand to Dijana who stood several steps away, watching anxiously. "He is waiting for you, princess. Go rest with him in a place of peace."

She hesitated at first, and then she stepped away from her father and hurried to them. "Is … is he going to be all right?" she asked hesitantly as if fearing the response.

When Staefyn did not answer, Arora told her, "He needs many days of rest." She looked at Shamara. "Take Dijana to him now. He is restless because he is worried about her."

Although Amyr could sense uneasiness in Dijana, she reached out to take Shamara's hand, but Staefyn seized her wrist and placed her hand over Taeron's. When she collapsed beside him, Roehan moved anxiously towards them until Arora put up her hand to stop him.

"Are you pleased with yourself?" snarled Xuxa as Staefyn rose. "You could have killed him! You should have killed him years ago when I demanded it of you!"

Staefyn took a step towards her, but his mother reached out to lay a hand on his arm. "Please, Staefyn, do not go to that woman."

He did not look at his mother and Amyr sensed the waves of pain rolling off them. "I must," he said regretfully. "She is my mate." And he shook off Arora's hand to approach Xuxa.

Before he could, Lord Duo cut him off and Trey moved past him, sword in hand, but Xuxa scurried back from him, stumbling onto the terrace and before anyone could reach her, she had seized Keilana and held the blade of a thin, sharp dagger against the pulse at her neck.

"If you come any closer, I will kill her!"

Amyr was shocked by his father's disinterested shrug. "Why should I care that you kill the last of house Caron?"

"How did you feel, Trey, to discover what Renaeld did to your mate?" Xuxa cackled as she faced him. "I told Renaeld that I would reward him if he brought that bitch low, and I did."

Trey took a step towards her, clenching his sword tighter in his hand, but Staefyn avoided Lord Duo's attempt to seize him and shot past him to go to his father to grasp his arm before he could swing at both females.

"Keilana is my wife," he reminded Trey. "I have made an oath to her and I must protect her." Ignoring his father's surprise, Staefyn shoved him back and turned his attention to Xuxa. "Let her go. I will protect you."

Xuxa was trembling, her eyes wide and darting frantically over the men and women who had come onto the terrace before settling back on Trey. "You took everything from me when you killed my son! So I took yours!"

Amyr could see that his father was furious. "I fought Dillan in honorable combat and he lost. You took an innocent child and destroyed his life!"

"Why not?" The contemptuous gaze she raked over Staefyn infuriated Amyr. "The bragging little brat deserved it! I laughed to see him treating Larya's bastard as if he were a baseborn interloper when I knew what he was, who he was."

"You knew about Larya all along," Trey accused her furiously.

She laughed, the shrill sound evidence of her insanity. "Of course I knew! Dax told me what he had done to her, what he hoped Zeno would do, but he never told Zeno what he did with Virinea's child and I had but to wait until you took your men into the Wastelands to challenge Meridon's tribe. I paid one of your men to find her for me."

"How could you do what you did to my sister, a child?" demanded Trey

"That bitch's mother took Zeno from me! He was going to make me his wife until she seduced him!" She was shaking so badly that she cut Keilana who gasped but dared not attempt to escape. "I wanted her to pay, but that coward Dax sent Virinea away instead of killing her. He never killed anyone I demanded! So I made that whore's daughter pay instead, again and again!"

"My father was never going to marry you," snarled Trey. "He knew what you had done with Dax; he knew that Dillan was not his son and he never forgave you for betraying him."

Xuxa shook her head. "No! He would have forgiven me, but that human bitch took him away from me! Just like Valerya! Valerya took Dax away from me too."

Her crazed gaze fell on Arora. "And you took my son! Trey may have killed him, but you took Dillan! You bonded him!"

Arora's hand flew to her chest. "He demanded that I make the oath to him!"

The older woman was shaking violently. "You were all he could think about, all he spoke about, and he suffered from your absence! He followed you when I told him he should not, and when you returned, he would not rest until he had you! He pleaded with Dax for you, and he begged Zeno, and when he failed, he followed you into the Wastelands."

"My father never would have handed her over to Dillan," stated Trey. "He knew what she was meant to do from the moment he held her in his hands when she was an infant destined for the sands."

Xuxa shook her head vehemently. "No! He was punishing me!"

There was not a person in the room that did not believe Xuxa was insane, and yet Staefyn held out his hand to her. "Please, Xuxa, release Keilana. She has done nothing to you."

Her wide gaze fixed on Staefyn. "You want her," she accused, pressing the point of the dagger against Keilana's skin, drawing more blood. "You couldn't have that red-haired bitch, so now you want this useless female."

"You know that I only want you, Xuxa," he cajoled her with an affectionate smile that he should reserve for a young woman like Keilana, not a woman older than his grandmother. "She means nothing to me."

Amyr could see that his father was disturbed that Staefyn was trying to appease Xuxa, especially since he had already voiced his lack of interest in Keilana's fate. While he did not particularly care for the house Caron female, Amyr would not wish to watch her die at the hands of the hag now holding her life in her hands. He could see that his mother was anxious for Keilana, but there was nothing she could do to help her.

Only Staefyn might be able to talk Xuxa out of killing her, and once he did, if he could, what would happen? Did Staefyn think he could leave with Xuxa? Did he imagine that his parents would forgive the cold-hearted monster? Because he had been bonded to Quynn, Amyr understood how Staefyn felt, how he would do anything for even that woman, but she had used him and now she knew that he could not help her from the fate she would receive on the edge of the emperor's sword. Since he could no longer protect her, she was going to completely destroy him.

Xuxa sneered at Staefyn. "I know she means nothing to you, how could she when you belong to me?"

"I don't want her. I never wanted her." He took a step closer to her. "I would not have given her my oath if you had not told me to do so."

"Then why do you care what I do to her?" Xuxa narrowed her eyes on him. "Are you going to use your sorcery to claim her?"

He shook his head. "I have no sorcery for that, Xuxa. Why would I wish to? You are the only woman I ever think about, the only woman I have ever wanted."

For a moment it seemed as if she were going to relent after his heartfelt statement and she lowered the dagger, and seeing her waver, Staefyn suddenly leaped forward to seize her wrist and break her hold on Keilana. Keilana stumbled away and Amyr sprang to catch her and draw her out of Xuxa's reach. Staefyn was struggling with Xuxa for control of the dagger, both of them stumbling dangerously close to the edge of the terrace, but he was stronger and he forced her to drop the weapon.

"I hate you!" she shrieked. "I have always hated you! I should have fed you poison that day!"

Staefyn pulled her against him and held her struggling body close. "You _did_ feed me poison that day, Xuxa."

No one moved towards them. Amyr held Keilana behind him as he watched them warily, and he saw that his parents were hesitant to approach when he held the viper in his arms.

Xuxa reached up to caress his cheek with her thin hand. "You were always true to me, Staefyn."

He smiled down at her. "Everything I did was for you."

"It was not enough!" She suddenly shoved him and he stumbled back towards the balustrade, and as he tried to get his balance, Xuxa scrambled for the dagger.

Suddenly the cringing serving woman burst into action and dived for the dagger, reaching it before Xuxa. Staefyn could not stop her from plunging the blade into her chest.

"No!" Staefyn cried out as Xuxa stumbled towards the edge of the terrace, gasping to breathe as blood flowed from her body.

Staefyn tried to reach her, to heal her, but Vaedra was screaming incoherently at Xuxa as the two women struggled and careened away from him.

"Vaedra!" cried out Quynn, her voice thick with emotion. "Please stop, Vaedra!"

But the other woman lurched against Xuxa and they disappeared over the edge of the balcony. Staefyn dived toward them, his body nearly going over the balustrade, but he caught himself on the edge with one hand while the other incredibly managed to grip Xuxa's wrist. "Hold on to me, Xuxa!"

"By the gods, Staefyn, let her go!" shouted his father, taking a hesitant step forward.

"I cannot!" Amyr could see tears rolling down Staefyn's cheeks when he turned to look back at them. "I cannot bear to live without her!"

No one was close enough to react when Staefyn released the balustrade and followed Xuxa over the edge. Arora cried out and Trey pulled her into his arms to keep her from going to the edge of the terrace that loomed above the gorge where the canyon beasts had gone after breaking through the gates. Lord Duo reluctantly moved past them, peered over the edge, then looked at Trey shaking his head. Amyr felt sick to his stomach that his brother would sacrifice his life for the wretched woman. She had completely destroyed him as she took her revenge for events that happened long before his birth.

Seeing Quynn's stricken face, Amyr released Keilana and hurried to embrace his wife. She burst into tears against his chest and he held her tightly as she vented her grief. He was ashamed to realize that in the months Staefyn had held her as a prisoner in Guerani Palace, she had come to know him better than Amyr ever had. Staefyn had closed himself off from everyone but Taeron. He had taken Quynn to protect her because he did not think Amyr was worthy of her and that he would only cause her pain.

As he held his weeping mate, Amyr thought that Staefyn had been right. He had not been worthy of Quynn when he seduced her into exchanging vows with him, doing so only for selfish reasons. But his powers had given him the empathy that he had lacked. He regretted that Staefyn had never been able to feel the love that he did for Quynn for any woman, that even his incredible powers could not save him from Xuxa.

He took Quynn back to her chamber and he stayed with her, holding her as Chaela sat nearby with Yori who was in a trance of his own making that Chaela could not breach. Amyr had felt Yori's power in the shaking of the ground that had made the sharpshooters on the roof lose their balance and plummet to their deaths. Yori's power had been augmented by the ancestors who surely wished to help Staefyn, but in the end, even they had failed to save him. Staefyn's voice would join with theirs and the thought made him weep with his wife.

Lord Duo came into the room after a few hours to report that the thralls had been rounded up, that they had been freed of Kai's control with his death and were wandering about aimlessly. Quynn stirred in his arms upon hearing it, and she reached up to unclasp the collar around her neck which came away easily now that Kai was dead. She threw the device across the room and the stones shattered against the wall, and as she touched the scars on her neck, Amyr regretted that she would always have this reminder of what Kai had done.

"Staefyn tried to heal me," she murmured after her hand fell away from the scars. "He kept me safe."

Amyr drew her into his arms. She told him how difficult it had been to rest after Staefyn had brought Dijana to the palace as a reward for Kai. Quynn had feared for them all, not just from Kai, but from Xuxa as well. Staefyn had believed he was doing Quynn a favor by bringing Yori, but he had put her son in danger. Now she cried herself to sleep as Amyr held her, and like her, he succumbed to exhaustion after all that had happened in the last few days.

When he awoke, the suns where shining brightly, so he realized that he had slept through the day and night. Quynn was gone and Yori was curled up against him. Amyr touched him to find out if he was still in a trance, but Yori was only sleeping, so he slipped an arm around his son and drew him close as he dozed. Later he would ask him what he had been doing in his trance.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" Reluctantly opening his eyes, he found his father leaning over him. Now even Yori was gone, so Amyr yawned, stretched and sat up.

He ran his hands through his hair and after rubbing his face, he looked at his father. "I did not realize I was so tired." The truth was that he felt deep sorrow for what had happened to Staefyn and he could not resist the feeling that if he had not been so selfish when he was younger, if he had been a good brother instead of a tyrant, Staefyn would not have fallen prey to Xuxa.

His father sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on Amyr's shoulder. "He is gone, Amyr, and there is nothing we can do to change it. We all knew this could happen when we brought the army to the Wastelands."

"I was a terrible brother," he admitted with shame.

"And I was an overindulgent father," Trey said with a sigh. "I should have realized that Staefyn needed our help, but I chose to believe the lies he told me."

"He didn't have any choice." If Quynn made the demands of him that Xuxa had made of Staefyn, Amyr would do whatever she wanted.

"I know that, but it doesn't make his choice any easier to bear. Your sisters have been comforting your mother, but I don't know how much they can help after she watched her child die."

Amyr could sense his father's sorrow, but he did not try to comfort him because he knew he would not appreciate that he read his feelings so easily. Instead he said, "I could not believe you would have gladly watched Xuxa kill Keilana. When did you become so heartless, father? "

For a moment his father did not speak and then he said, "Her father committed a heinous act on the woman I love, my bonded mate, and when I see her, I think of what he did. Given the choice between her and saving my son, I would gladly watch that madwoman cut open her throat."

"Her death would not have saved Staefyn and it would not erase what Renaeld did to mother," Amyr told him. "How will you feel in the future when you see her. Taeron has made an oath to care for Keilana, so you may see her often."

"Taeron acted against my judgment, but he was wise in taking Keilana into his house. I am confident that he will be a fair and just ruler when I have relinquished my throne to him."

"Has he returned?" Amyr felt guilty that he had not checked on Taeron whose trance must have been disturbed by Staefyn's death.

"He and Dijana are still in a trance. Larya arrived late last night and she spoke to him, but he did not react. Apolo doesn't know how, but he believes that Staefyn enabled Taeron to remain in the trance without the presence of a Guerani. Shamara entered it on Trynity's behest so that he and Dijana can take some nourishment, but he sent her out, and I gather that he was not very polite about it. Shamara was upset when she returned."

If there were no Guerani in his trance, how was Taeron able to stay in it? Although he wanted an answer to the question, Amyr did not think he would be able to succeed where Shamara had failed when his sister had grown so close to Taeron during her adventurous courtship with Prince Dagan. At the time he had been annoyed because Taeron had been taken from his side, but he had grown wise enough to realize that he had been jealous of their friendship. Perhaps he had even seen the relationship that had developed between Staefyn and Taeron but refused to acknowledge it.

Looking at his father, Amyr was reluctant to ask, "Do you think I should try to convince him to come out?"

"You are his friend and brother by marriage. Need I remind you that it is your duty as his imperial guard to protect him, even from himself?" Trey went to Amyr and put his arm around his shoulders. "We will hold a memorial for Staefyn here tomorrow. I don't think Taeron could forgive himself if he failed to remember the brother of his heart with us."

He had no choice but to do what he least wanted. But he went in search of his mate first, finding her sitting in the beautiful, large garden leading from the master suite intended for his mother that Staefyn had occupied during his stay. When he crossed through the chamber, Amyr was surprised by the simplicity of the furnishings because he would have assumed that Xuxa would have decorated it to her liking, a liking that already precipitated removing everything she had put in the palace. Workers were busy doing so under Larya's direction. She had only paused for a moment in ordering the men to give Amyr a terse demand that he bring her son from the trance so that she could comfort him and be assured that he was well.

Quynn was sitting on a bench toward the back of the garden with Yori on her lap, her head bent to listen to something Yori told her, a smile curving her lovely lips. With the sun bathing her, Amyr could not help but feel that he was the most fortunate of men to have her as his wife.

She must have heard his approach because she looked up, and now she blessed him with the love in her eyes. "I see that you are finally awake," she remarked. "Stryfe checked on you several times, and he said he even poked you with his quill, but you did not respond."

"Where is your brother? Did he arrive with Larya?"

Quynn smiled. "Both he and Larya arrived on Jeshed's back." Staefyn's death had released the spell on Jeshed's collar as Kai's had released Quynn to use her magic.

Imagining Larya on the dragon's back, Amyr chuckled. "And what did Larya have to say about that?"

"That she enjoyed it and told Jeshed that she would be making a list of places she wanted to visit both on Calabria and Dagmaeus."

Amyr smiled. "And your brother?"

"Nagging my father for every detail he can remember from what happened. He is angry that Trey did not allow him to accompany them on their assault, but I think Trey did not want Stryfe to record _all_ the details."

"I suppose your father has selective memory loss," he remarked with a sigh. No one would want it known that the emperor's son had chosen death than life without that wretched female.

"Come sit with us. Yori says that you will be surprised."

Raising his brows in curiosity, Amyr went to sit beside Quynn on the bench and he was about to ask Yori what he meant when he heard the voices on the winds, and he was so amazed that he could not even speak. The ancestors spoke to him, telling him what he needed to hear to soothe the sorrow that he felt over his role in what had happened to Staefyn. He could not hear a single voice, but many voices blended together, and yet he could not hear individual words because they spoke to his heart.

"Staefyn sat here often," Quynn told him as she took his hand and laced their fingers together. "Yori says that if you take his hand, you can help me and our child hear them as Staefyn surely heard them each time he sat in the garden." She laughed ruefully. "I thought he was ogling me through the bushes."

"What good would that have done him?" asked Amyr with a snort.

Quynn smiled although he saw tears shimmering in her gaze. "I should have known better when I did not hear him gagging."

Amyr took his son's hand and he watched the play of emotions on Quynn's face as she heard the ancestors, the surprise and the joy at being included in their number. She blurred in his vision as tears came to his eyes, and she put her head on his shoulder to tell him that she loved him, that they would move on from this sorrowful time in their lives.

They sat entwined for what must have been hours with the words on the winds easing their pain until Amyr reluctantly admitted that he was supposed to be coaxing Taeron from the trance so that he could eat and rebuild his strength. Yori wanted to remain in the garden, but Quynn went with Amyr to the room where Taeron had been taken. He was lying on a bed with Dijana, and along with Quynn's mother, the other Guerani were sitting in the room with them. Shamara was talking with Chaela, and Apolo and Arora's heads were bent towards each other although they did not speak aloud. Lady Trynity was hovering over the pair on the bed.

His mother looked up when he entered the room. "I expected you some time ago after your father told me you would be coming to help."

Amyr glanced at Quynn before responding. "I wanted to see my wife and child first, and they gave me an amazing experience. There is a spot in the garden off Staefyn's chamber that resonates the voices of the ancestors very strongly."

His uncle nodded. "I believe Staefyn drew their presence here with his pain."

The reminder of Staefyn's miserable existence would have saddened Amyr again, but Quynn reached out to squeeze his hand. She had no Guerani power, but her touch comforted him.

Her mother was holding Taeron by the wrist and she looked at him after releasing it. "Taeron needs food, as does Dijana," she told him. "The child will take from her and she will weaken. I don't think Taeron would want that."

"He would not listen to me," spoke up Shamara. "He was rude to me, and he has never been rude to anyone, certainly not to me."

"He is grieving," said Apolo. "He was closer to Staefyn than any of us, closer than any of us can even imagine. He shared everything with Staefyn except the one thing that killed him and I think Taeron is feeling responsible for not protecting him."

"If you think I can help him, I will go, but if Shamara cannot get him to listen, then what hope do I have?"

Arora went to Amyr and put her hand on his cheek. For a moment she did not speak and then she said, "He loves you, too, Amyr. You have gone through much together. You shared with him the thing that Staefyn could not in the bond of love you both have come to have with your mates."

"I will go with you," offered Quynn. "If he does not listen to you, perhaps he will listen to me. I have experience in talking ornery brothers into behaving."

Amyr was not afraid to go alone, but he accepted Quynn's help anyway. So twining their fingers, he sat on the edge of the bed near Taeron who lay still as death, his eyes closed. He noted that all his wounds had been healed, the last healing that Staefyn had ever performed. Sighing, Amyr took Quynn onto his lap, and he reached out to lay his hand over the hands clasped over Taeron's heart.

The arrival in the trance was smooth and they were taken to the pond on Norvana where Amyr had discovered that Taeron had bonded himself to Dijana. But Taeron and Dijana were not there, and when he took a step to leave the pond, Quynn, still holding his hand, prevented him.

"Are you sure we don't have a few moments to enjoy the pool?" she asked with an impish smile. "I know how slow time passes in the real world. What we might do for hours here would only be a few minutes."

As much as he wanted to appease her, he reluctantly shook his head. "I have an obligation to Taeron."

She frowned at him. "What happened to the Amyr I used to know?"

"I caught hell for being with you in Staefyn's trance. I am not going through that humiliating experience again."

Quynn looked at him skeptically. "Did you take some of my mother's libido killing medicine?"

Leaning down to kiss the top of her head he said, "I don't need it. If you want a bonded male slave, then I regret to inform you that my bond to you dissolved when my powers became stronger."

She blew out her breath in an irritated huff. "Does that mean the sex won't be as good?"

Amyr chuckled and drew her into his arms. "If I were not concerned about Taeron and Dijana, I would prove to you how much better it will be."

She turned and fitted his arm around her waist. "Let's look for them. The sooner we send them on their way, the sooner I can have you to myself in this lovely place."

"Norvana is lovely? I did not particularly care for it." His actions on Norvana were at the pinnacle of his shameful, selfish behavior of the past.

Quynn probably understood because she did not argue with him, but as they walked through the wooded area near the pond, he saw Norvana through her eyes and realized how beautiful and magical the planet had been. Yori's powers had surely been enhanced by the same forces that gave Quynn and Taeron magic and had given Carrinda the ability to break a bonding tie. Guerani magic could not break the bond because it was not an illness but the manifestation of a stage of a Calabrian male's life. Xuxa had trapped Staefyn before his powers had emerged and he could not fight it.

They soon found Taeron sitting on the ground with his back propped against an ancient tree's enormous trunk. He held Dijana before him, her back against his chest, and as she rested her head against his shoulder and spoke to him, he splayed his hand on her belly while he smiled down into her eyes as he listened to her.

But he sensed their arrival and the smile faded to be replaced with a frown as he looked up to spear them with his furious gaze. Amyr thought he saw gold in his eyes, but he realized it must have been a trick of the light.

"Why have you come to disturb us?" he demanded with annoyance.

Dijana gave them an apologetic look but she did not speak.

"You need to come out of the trance, Taeron," stated Amyr gently, but firmly.

"Why? I did what they asked of me. Kai is gone, and Xuxa is gone. Staefyn is gone! Your lives can go on as if they had never existed."

Amyr felt the hurt and sorrow that overwhelmed Taeron. What Staefyn had done in locking away his memories had been far kinder than what they did in exposing them. Taeron would never be the same. He had not wielded a sword against Staefyn, but he felt responsible for everything that had happened to him since the day he had led him out of the canyon where he had rescued him only to lead him in the the clutches of a monster.

"None of our lives will go on as they were," Amyr assured him. He nodded to Dijana. "Do you want her to suffer? She has been in this trance with you for almost two days and she needs to eat for the sake of your child. Lady Trynity is worried about both of you." He glanced at the hand that flexed protectively on her belly. "You don't want any harm to come to Caelitha or Dijana, do you?"

Immediately Taeron was urging Dijana to stand. "Go back with Quynn."

"I won't go back without you," she told him with a stubborn lift to her chin. Amyr almost laughed to see Taeron's surprise that she would defy him. The crown prince was not going to have an easy future with this willful Teralonian female.

"Can I at least have a few moments alone with Amyr?" asked Taeron.

"No! A few moments could turn into a few hours and we don't know how long that would be in the world where your body lays in want of nourishment," she said wisely. She looked at Amyr who was marveling at how Dijana had changed since the first time he had seen her. "We only just finished … bathing and came to sit under the tree to rest. He was trying to convince me to eat a spider."

Quynn laughed. "Time usually passes faster in these trances. You must have been … bathing for a very long time."

Dijana rose now and Taeron did not protest, but he looked at Amyr as if he wanted to thrash him for disturbing their privacy. "I am hungry. My mother is probably waiting for me with a bowl of berries and nuts."

"I doubt it," remarked Quynn with a laugh. "This morning I had to fight her for the last of the murkwater spider."

Taeron slipped an arm around her waist and he dangled a spider before her eyes. "This is your last chance, princess." When she made a sound of disgust, he popped it into his mouth.

She shoved him away. "I am not ever kissing you again."

But Taeron grasped her wrist, pulled her back to him and within seconds she was enthusiastically kissing him. That was how they were when they shimmered and disappeared from the trance.

Quynn looked at Amyr with her brows raised. "And my brother is not bonded."

Amyr smiled and took her hand to pull her to him. "Your brother is not here anymore and I recall that the mossy ground under this tree is quite comfortable."

She slipped her arms around his neck. "We should return to the pond where I can heat up the water and we can ... bathe."

"By the gods, I hope I am up to all the … bathing that you have in mind."

Quynn laughed as she hooked her foot around his ankle and dropped him to the ground. Straddling him, she gave him a smile that put him in the proper frame of mind. "I will make sure you are up to it, husband."


	89. Chapter 89 Taeron's magic

**Chapter 89**

The last of Staefyn's family to speak about him was his mother, and her recollections of him as a child brought tears to the eyes of nearly all who were gathered to honor his memory. Taeron had listened to them all speak, watched them cry, and yet he felt disconnected when the Staefyn they remembered was far different from the Staefyn that he had known, and if he felt the desire to cry, it was because he and Staefyn had robbed them of the honor and privilege of truly knowing him. Since the day Staefyn had come into his powers, they had ceased to know who he really was because he had hidden it from them all.

When Arora finished speaking, she turned her amber gaze on him. "Will you speak, Taeron?"

"What can I say that you all have not already said?" Taeron wanted to be away from this service, to be alone with his feelings.

"You can tell us what Staefyn was really like," said the emperor gruffly, his throat still tight with the tears he had shed for the son he had watched choose death over his family.

Dijana slipped her hand in his and squeezed it as she gave him an encouraging smile, but he remained silent.

"Taeron," began his father, but he cut him off before Lord Duo could try to cajole him into sharing with them what was between him and Staefyn.

"You know the Staefyn that he wanted you to know. What do you want me to say? You have all torn the memories from my mind, so there is nothing left that you do not know. I give you leave to discuss the private moments of our lives."

Shaking off Dijana's hand, he turned on his heel and left the garden where Staefyn had spent so much time, where the ancestors spoke to him and to the other Guerani. Where the ancestors whispered to Taeron as well.

He had passed through the door to the chamber before his mother caught up to him and put her arms around him from the back. "Do not go, Taeron. I will not pretend to know how you feel, but I do know that they can comfort you."

Turning, he drew his mother close and as he held her, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Mother, you can comfort me more than any of the others."

She raised her head to smile at him. "That is not true anymore, Taeron. You have Dijana to comfort you now."

Looking past her, he saw Dijana standing in the doorway leading from the chamber to the garden. She was so beautiful standing in the fading light from the second sun, and yet it hurt to look at her because she made him so happy and he regretted that Staefyn had not experienced such love. Setting his mother aside after kissing the top of her head, he went to take Dijana's hand to lead her back into the garden.

No one spoke, but he heard encouraging whispers and so he spoke, telling them of the Staefyn he had known, of their favorite hiding places, of the mischief they had gotten into with impunity because Staefyn used his powers to keep anyone from catching them. He spoke of how proud Staefyn knew they would be to learn of his powers. He was going to tell them after Taeron became Amyr's imperial guard because he knew they would be separated and he wanted them to spend as much time together as possible before he left to train with Apolo as Taeron took on his duties.

Taeron did not want to make them cry again, and yet the tears rolled down his own cheeks as he spoke, and when he finished, he received grateful hugs from Arora and Trey as well as from Staefyn's other siblings including Staefyn's younger sisters and brother who had arrived from Bayman that morning with King Dagan who had come to collect his wife and share in the memorial.

They shared a meal after the memorial and while his father encouraged him to eat heartily to regain his strength, Taeron's appetite had not returned. He was glad for the excuse of his weakness to go to his chamber early with Dijana, glad to hold her in his arms as he cried again for the brother he had lost until sleep claimed him.

During the darkest hours of the night, Taeron woke, and he carefully pulled away from Dijana to walk out of the chamber to sit in the small private garden. The ancestors, not his own, but Staefyn's, called out to him on the wind, easing the ache of his heart, and he remained with them until the rising of the first sun when he returned to the woman in his bed. As he held her, he closed his eyes and concentrated as Staefyn had taught him, and putting his hand on her belly he sent a greeting to his daughter and smiled when she responded with a quicker beat of her heart. He listened to Dijana's breathy sighs as she slept, and wondering where she went in her dreams, he sent his consciousness into her, searching for her dreams and finding a little girl with beautiful gold-tipped wings flying about in a field of yellow and white flowers. But when she turned her head and would have seen him, he quickly withdrew and returned to his own body.

She stretched against him, then propped up on an elbow as she looked at him in the semi dark. "I was dreaming of my childhood, and suddenly you were in my dream."

He caressed her cheek as he smiled at her. "I did not do anything improper to you, did I?"

Dijana laughed and leaned forward to give him a lingering kiss. "I was a child, Taeron! Of course not!"

He rolled her onto her back. "You are not a child now."

The following day he was busy with his duties as the crown prince and especially with his duties as the head of his house. There was still an army on the Wasteland plains that he needed to disperse, and it was with much reluctance that he left Dijana for a few days to make arrangements. Although Amyr had wanted to accompany him, Taeron insisted that he remain at Guerani Palace to watch over Dijana. Amyr did not need to tell him how grateful he was that Taeron did not separate him from Quynn after they had been apart for so many months. Stryfe and Jeshed had gone with him, the former in his official capacity to record his actions and the latter because he wished to fly now that he was free of the collar Staefyn had put on him to hobble his shape shifting magic.

The warriors of his house were happy to see him and while Taeron had little to say about what had happened at Guerani Palace, Stryfe entertained the commanders with the story as he had heard it from his father. For several days afterward, the story was told and retold until Taeron's defeat of Warlord Kai was a legend that even he could not hope to live up to.

In truth, Staefyn urged him to do what he had done to Kai, that spilling his toxic blood on the warlord might be the only way to defeat him. Taeron had resisted, even with Staefyn's promise to heal him, wanting to defeat the Varoonyan in honorable combat, but Staefyn had opened Kai's thoughts to him. The warlord, fearing defeat, was planning to maneuver Taeron close to Dijana so that he could strike down her father and seize her to hold her as a hostage so that he could escape. Taeron could not allow that, so he had followed Staefyn's plan, putting Dijana's safety ahead of his pride.

Taeron spent days breaking down the camps and assigning the squadrons to different duties for the emperor. He sent the vast majority of the southern warriors back to his new holdings while assigning squadrons to Edgeland Fortress, the imperial palace and now to Guerani Palace to protect the emperor. Trey had already announced his intention to stay in the hills until the end of the warm season when he would return to Imperia. Taeron doubted he had much say in the matter when his wife wished to remain in the hills with the ancestors.

Meridon was waiting in his own camp for his return and he greeted him with a hug that knocked the breath from Taeron. "I almost tired of waiting for you, boy. Do you have any orders from the emperor for me?"

Taeron smiled at the old man. "You may do as you wish. Stay on the surface or return to Ulfynaeus."

The chieftain exchanged a look with his son and then he shook his head. "My life on Ulfynaeus is comfortable, that I cannot deny. But I have so few days remaining to me that I want to spend them here where I left my Caelitha's ashes in the sands. Darlac will take my place on Ulfynaeus."

Glancing at Darlac, Taeron knew that they had already discussed his father's plans thoroughly, possibly argued about them, but Meridon would have his way. "I will inform Trey of your decision. I will tell my mother as well."

The old man grunted. "She will want to mother me, and that I will not abide!"

Taeron chuckled and put his hand on Meridon's shoulder. "Better you than me." But then he grew serious. "You were the only father she knew, Meridon, and I think spending time with you will give her some peace, and you as well."

"Caelitha loved her dearly," he said with a sigh. He reached up to lay a hand on Taeron's cheek. "She would be proud of how Yarala turned her life around and managed to find her place in the world, how she gave Calabria a most beloved crown prince."

That night they feasted and Taeron drank far too much of Meridon's ale, but not so much that he was tempted by any of the females that offered to keep him warm in the night. He only needed someone to hold his head while he vomited from the excess and Jeshed was at his side to help, at least until his own behavior necessitated Taeron doing the same for him until he passed out. Stryfe had disappeared with females under both arms.

In the morning, his head pounding and his gut wrenching, Taeron had to look for both his brothers. He should not have been surprised to find Jeshed half-clothed with one of the warrior females of Darlac's tribe, and yet he was when he knew how Jeshed felt about Chaela despite her repeated rejections. Jeshed had been mortified by his drunken behavior although the female gave him a saucy smile and told him to come find her whenever he visited his father on the moon and she would be happy to repeat what they had done the night before.

Jeshed was still bemoaning his behavior when they found Stryfe who had drank so much the night before that he was still inebriated. So Taeron's plans to return to Guerani Palace were delayed until they could all recover from their excesses. Taeron was eager to return to his wife and heartily sick of fending off females, so he was glad two days later to take his leave of Darlac who was leading his warriors back to Edgeland Fortress while Taeron escorted Meridon and the dozen older warriors who wished to remain on the surface with him.

Meridon directed them to a location at the foot of the mountains where his tribe used to spend a portion of the year and he pointed out the place where he had burned his wife's body in the funereal rite. After paying his respects with him, he made his farewells of Meridon, and as he hugged the old man, he knew that he would not see him again, that he would barely live long enough for Larya to go to his side. As he rode away, Taeron let the tears roll freely down his cheeks as he thought of the many days he had spent among Meridon's people on the second moon. He must have always known that Meridon was important in his life, and yet he had not known how.

Stryfe had been quiet during the farewell, but as they rode slowly on the path into the mountains, he turned to look at Taeron. "I think you are keeping something from us."

There was much that Taeron was keeping from them, but that was the nature of keeping secrets, so he was not going to share with his brother.

"You spent a lot of time with Staefyn," he remarked thoughtfully. "I have read many of the Guerani scrolls, but I have not had time to read them all. What do you think they will tell me about Calabrian children fostered with Guerani children?"

Taeron glanced at him. "That they had their skinned knees regularly healed?"

His brother chuckled. "I think the scrolls had more than that to say about it. Do you wonder if the magic with which Dax altered your mother may have crossed into you?"

Rolling his eyes, Taeron shook his head. "I have no ..."

"You are a paladin," Jeshed said fiercely from the other side of him where he rode a horse he had some difficulty controlling. Taeron suspected the horse sensed his dragon form and that Jeshed would rather eat the horse than ride it. "You have holy magic, brother. Do not deny it! Why do you think your blood killed the warlord?"

At least Jeshed distracted Stryfe from his probing. "Perhaps there is truth in what you say. I am honored that the gods chose me." It was not so difficult to admit that he had magic although he was gods cursed to know how to put it to use. He had not even controlled when it had come to him during his fight with Kai.

"Your actions have honored the gods," Jeshed said with a nod.

Unfortunately, Stryfe was not as distracted as Taeron would have hoped. "I think you have some Guerani powers, brother, as well as your holy paladin blood."

"Would I not have used them to heal myself on occasion?" Taeron asked him with annoyance. His human brother was a pest!

"I said that you have _some_ powers, not all of them." Stryfe stopped his horse and reached out to grasp Taeron's reins. "Why do you not admit it, Taeron? I have watched you these last few years, and I have come to the conclusion that you are an empath, have always been so because of the magic that Dax left in Larya. Your empathy became stronger as Staefyn's powers grew. I imagine the two of you communicated without speaking, that Staefyn did not always initiate it. Staefyn did not just take your memories, but he took the Guerani powers that you had developed."

It was no use hiding the truth from his brother. "I cannot heal. He tried to teach me to heal and I could not, so we assumed it was the Calabrian blood, that I was destined to be a warrior. But you are right in what you have assumed, all of it. When they unblocked my memories, the magic remained closed away from until … until Staefyn released it when he healed me." The flow of magic through his body had surprised him, and yet it had seemed so natural. "I initiated the trance and took Dijana into it."

"Will you tell them?" he asked Stryfe, knowing the answer.

"You should tell them, Taeron, but tell them you must. I doubt they will be surprised. Even my mother has managed weak healing powers and that after only a rudimentary lesson from Lord Apolo."

When they arrived at Guerani Palace, he found it had changed dramatically with all traces of Xuxa scrubbed away after being redesigned to Larya's elegantly exacting specifications. Taeron guessed that Apolo had some influence on her decisions because the palace had become a peaceful seat of Guerani power and the moment he stepped inside, he felt the joy of the ancestors.

Dijana must have been informed of his arrival because she was waiting in the hall for him and she lifted her long skirt so that she could run to him and she almost knocked him over with her exuberance. Taeron dipped his head to give her a long, thorough kiss that left her breathless and pink cheeked before he raised his head to see her parents standing nearby, Neria smiling indulgently as Roehan gave him a look of grudging approval. Although he wanted to take Dijana to their chamber and spend the day in her arms, a raised brow from Stryfe reminded him of the necessity of speaking to Trey, so he reluctantly told Dijana that he needed to report to the emperor. She did not question him although he saw Neria narrow her gaze as if to tell him that his first priority should be to her daughter.

Trey was relaxing in the sitting room of his private chamber, enjoying tea with his Arora, Apolo and Laryra when Taeron interrupted them. Stryfe had gone with him, not only as moral support, but as an expert having read the Guerani histories. Taeron began his explanation by apologizing for keeping secrets from them, and he could see that his mother was shocked that he would admit to dishonesty. But he forged ahead, admitting to everything Staefyn had taught him, that they had learned to use his powers together, and when they stared at him in disbelief, Stryfe added what he had learned from the texts, that there had been abandoned Calabrian females taken in by Guerani and raised among them from infancy who had developed full Guerani powers.

When Stryfe had finished speaking, Trey stared at Taeron in silence, probably wondering if he should look elsewhere for his crown prince, but after a deep sigh, he shook his head. "I could never have imagined this, Taeron, although I often wondered how it was that you always seemed to know how others felt."

"The skill is innate with him," remarked Apolo with a thoughtful nod. "Staefyn could not take that from him with the his Guerani powers, and I doubt Taeron consciously realized he was using Guerani magic."

"You say that Staefyn released your magic during your fight with Kai, before his death," said Arora with her gaze fixed on Taeron. "Why did he do it when you would not have known differently?"

"I do not know," he told her and he saw that she did not accept his lack of answer.

He wasn't surprised to feel her probing his mind for an answer, but she would find nothing, just as he meant for her. So he turned his attention to his mother to inform her that Meridon was dying and that she should go to him. Larya was grief-stricken and Apolo thanked Taeron for informing them before he hurried her from the room so that they could leave as soon as possible.

After Trey assured him that nothing would change, that his limited Guerani powers would only enhance his ability to rule, Taeron decided to tell his father before Amyr, but he found them together with Trynity and Quynn, so he was saved the trouble of repeating the story. His father took the news well since he had already grown accustomed to his wife's magic, then his daughter's, and compared to his holy powers, his Guerani abilities paled.

"I would like to know when _I_ am going to be able to use magic," he grumbled.

Trynity put her hand over his. "I have told you repeatedly that you have magic."

He grunted. "Not that kind of magic, babe."

"I enjoy that magic."

He reached out to snag her hand and standing, he hefted her over his shoulder. "Then I have a mind to use my magic now."

Taeron shared a laugh with Quynn before he noticed Amyr looking at him.

"I suppose it explains why I cannot read your thoughts," said Amyr with a sigh.

"I am sorry, Amyr, if you were looking forward to doing so." Taeron smiled at him. "You can amuse yourself by trying to catch me off guard."

"I don't really need to read your thoughts, Taeron. You are so gods' cursed honest that it is nauseating." Amyr hugged him and then touched his forehead to Taeron's. "Are you hiding something now?"

"A thing or two," he admitted with a wry smile.

Amyr chuckled and stepped back. "Then I shall enjoy discovering your secrets although I suspect it may be years before I can do so."

Before going to Dijana, he sought her parents and he was not surprised that they had already heard the news of his powers. Roehan was skeptical, still not sure how he felt about Guerani sorcery, but Neria proclaimed him the ideal mate for her daughter because he would always know what she wanted and would keep her happy. Taeron would have done so anyway and had no intention of reading Dijana's thoughts, but he did not tell Neria as much.

Before taking his leave of them, he made a request that shocked them into silence. He did not have the ability to compel them to do anything, but once he had explained what he wanted and why, he was pleased that they agreed to his request and the need for secrecy. They would be leaving Calabria in only a few days since Neria was eager to return to her own rule, and he promised to bring Dijana to Teralon for the birth of their daughter. Taeron wasn't sure if he would be able to know exactly when that would be, but there were enough Guerani to warn him in advance if Caelitha could not do it herself.

When he left them, he was on his way to Dijana when a female stepped into his path from the shadows and he was startled to see that it was Keilana. She looked so dejected, her eyes seeming larger with the dark circles under them. Taeron was angry at himself for not making any arrangements for her. Staefyn's widow and the last of the vile house cursed by the emperor, she must have been like a ghost in the palace, appearing and yet ignored.

"My lord prince, will you speak to me?" she asked meekly.

Taeron would prefer to have someone with him because he did not trust her, and since there was little possibility of danger in the palace, he did not have his imperial guard at his side. He considered sending Amyr a mental message, but he decided to escort her to his chamber where his wife was waiting. Dijana had a right to hear their exchange since it would affect her as well.

"Come with me," he told her firmly but did not offer his arm. She did not seem bothered and followed him silently to his room.

Dijana's welcoming smile quickly faded when Keilana followed him into the chamber and she raised a brow in question before giving Keilana a polite smile that seemed to put Keilana more at ease.

Taeron went to Dijana and took her hand in his, finding her confused and anxious about the other female's presence in their private apartment. He squeezed her hand to reassure her before looking from her to Keilana.

"You are not aware that I spoke to your mother's brother after the battle on the plains," he told her. "He was concerned with your future."

"I have no where to go," she admitted softly, her gaze lowering.

Taeron remembered her scathing remarks to him the day they had been ready to exchange vows and he wished he had powers then to know how she really felt when she spoke so rudely to him. Now sensed her deep shame and he knew that she had lashed out at him because she was terrified of returning to her father's house after failing to secure the oath of the crown prince.

"Staefyn was the brother of my heart," Taeron told her. He looked at Dijana. "Forgive me, Dijana, that I did not consult you, but I did what I thought was right in promising Lord Wattan that I would take Keilana into my house."

Keilana gasped and when Taeron saw her blushing, he quickly shook his head. "Not as a concubine!" Gods! What else was she to think? He looked quickly at Dijana who was smiling at his outburst. He wanted to kiss her for her trust in him, but he was going to have to wait until Keilana left them alone.

"Then what shall I be?" she asked in confusion.

"A guest," he told her. "Until such time you can make a suitable match and I will provide you with adequate goods to attract a mate worthy of you."

She was overwhelmed by his generosity. "You would do that after what I said to you, how I treated you?" She looked at Dijana. "Lord Prince Taeron has not bonded to you. Is this arrangement acceptable to you?"

Dijana reached out to take her hands and Taeron was surprised that Keilana allowed her. "You risked your life in saving Yori from Warlord Kai when you had no reason to," she said. "I join my husband in welcoming you into his house. As for my husband not being bonded," she gave him a sidelong glance before looking back at Keilana. "The males of my world do not bond with females, so it is of little importance to me."

Keilana looked skeptical and then she smiled gratefully at Dijana. "I doubt I would have been so generous to you."

"Then you have something to learn," Dijana said before giving her a quick hug. She reached out to grasp Taeron's hand. "I have learned much from my husband and I will be forever grateful that the gods brought him into my life."

She could not feel more grateful than Taeron to have Dijana and he squeezed her hand to tell her so. Meeting her gaze, he remembered the first time he had seen her, how reluctant, and yes, terrified, he was to bring a female into his life, and now he could not imagine his future without her.

Keilana laughed and Taeron was surprised that she knew how. "I will leave you two alone, but if there is anything you wish for me to do to make the transition as the lord of the southern lands easier, please let me know, my lord prince."

After he thanked her, she left them and he drew Dijana into his arms, and putting his hand under her chin, he raised her face to his. "Are you sure that you want a female as beautiful as Keilana under our roof?"

"I trust you, Taeron," she said with a smile.

He leaned down to brush his lips over the place he had claimed her. "You know how I can ease your mind."

She laughed and pushed him back. "I have not changed my mind, Taeron. I will be at ease to know that you do not suffer by any separation we must endure."

Taeron was disappointed, but he understood her reason for not allowing him to bond with her, and he could not blame her for not understanding how much it meant to a Calabrian male. Some day she might relent or he would accept her way of thinking.

"There will be a celebration before your parents leave for Edgeland Fortress tomorrow," he told her. "Are you going to miss them, Dijana?"

She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. "Are _you_ going to miss them, husband?"

"How do you feel about remaining on Calabria where my mother will want to have a hand in everything we do?" Although Taeron hadn't seen any enmity between the two most important females in his life, he could not imagine that Dijana would be happy if his mother tried to exert her influence.

But Dijana grinned. "Your mother has already told me that she has more advice to give me, especially for those times when your desire wanes."

"When my desire wanes?" He raised a brow. "I don't think you need that particular advice any time soon, or ever. As for me, I can do without the shadow cast by your father's wings. And your mother is a nag."

"They will expect us to visit often," she remarked. "Especially when we have children."

Taeron put his hand on her belly and he was amazed that he could sense his daughter even though Dijana had yet to feel her movements. Staefyn had been very disappointed not to be able to teach Taeron to heal, and Taeron wondered if his repeated attempts had only served to make him more powerful. Losing Staefyn after only just regaining his memories hurt, but he had a new life now, with Dijana and soon enough their child.

She put her hand on his. "You have been gone too many days, my lord husband."

He pulled her against him where she fit perfectly. "Did you miss me, my princess?"

Dijana slipped her arms around his neck. "I did, but did you have to tell Amyr to watch out for me? I have seen more of him these last two days than I wanted."

The annoyed look on her face made him laugh. "He is my imperial guard, Dijana, my cousin and my sister's husband. He will always be a part of our lives, especially if Yori has his way because he has convinced himself that Caelitha is his mate."

She sighed and rested her head against his chest. "The gods are laughing at me."

Taeron kissed the top of her head, then he closed his eyes to thank the gods, regardless of whether they laughed at Dijana or not. When he had turned to them, they had never failed them, and he would raise his children to honor and respect the them.

And he would honor and respect the ancestors whose voices spoke to him even now.


	90. Chapter 90 Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 _What took you so long?_

 _I have duties. Do you think it is easy for the crown prince to sneak away? And with all the sympathy everyone has for me because ..._

Staefyn waved his hand. "I did not mean to accuse you of ignoring me. I understand, but I have missed you."

Reaching into the pack that he had brought with him, Taeron handed the other man a flask. "You look awful, but I remember how I felt until Lady Trynity gave me her miracle brew."

When Staefyn put out his hand for the flask, Taeron saw that it was shaking so badly that he knew he would spill too much of the precious liquid. So he took back the flask, then drew him close, but he only held him for several moments, feeling how weak Staefyn had become since Xuxa's death. His body was trembling, his clothing soaked with sweat, but Taeron rocked him in his arms and stroked back the wet hair clinging to his head.

"I tried to stave off the worst of it," said Staefyn as he relaxed against him. "But I lost that battle days ago."

Taeron held the flask to his lips. "Drink deeply. You will feel the effects in only a few moments." He was relieved when Staefyn did as he ordered without arguing, and when he had drained the flask, Taeron set it aside and held him as they waited for the medicine to work its magic. They did not speak or communicate with their thoughts for several moments as they sat listening to the waterfall, the sounds of the birds, the whispers on the winds.

Finally Staefyn sighed deeply. "I cannot remember the last time I felt this good, Taeron. I regret mocking Lady Trynity's cures."

Taeron chuckled. "You should taste the ale she and Meridon cooked up."

"I don't think I ever will." Taeron heard the sad note in his voice. "I can never go back."

"Your father and mother would forgive you, Staefyn," he argued, and then he added, "but you have to forgive yourself. You believed the lies she told you. She was your mate."

Staefyn made a sound of disgust. "I trusted her. I had only my parents to use as a guide, and then she destroyed all my beliefs with her lies. I still wanted to believe her, even when I realized that she had lied about my father and you, had lied about my mother, about Amyr, but when I discovered what she had done to Larya, my father's sister, your mother, I wanted to break her neck."

"But you couldn't," said Taeron. He wished he didn't understand how Staefyn had felt for that female.

"I would have gladly accepted death," muttered Staefyn.

"I am grateful to Yori and the ancestors for saving you," said Taeron fiercely. "There is nothing to gain in death."

"I could have joined the ancestors," argued Staefyn morosely. "Instead I am alive and in more pain than I could ever have imagined."

They sat in silence for several more moments, Staefyn resting his weary body against Taeron who watched the light of the moons shimmering on the calm waters of the steaming pond. Holding his dearest friend, the brother of his heart, Taeron did not want to think about a future without him. Not after having been cheated of the last few years and all they could have shared. He did not blame Staefyn for blocking his memories because the choice Xuxa had given him would have ended his life that day.

"Where does your wife believe you are this night?" Staefyn finally asked.

Taeron sighed and put his chin on Staefyn's shoulder. "I told her that I wanted to check on the night patrols. Before you accuse me of lying to my wife, I did check on the patrols around the palace."

"And Amyr? He is not a very good imperial guard if he lets you wander about without his protection."

"I told Amyr where I was going and he allowed me the courtesy of going alone."

Staefyn nodded. "I hate to admit that he has probably found the role the gods meant for him in this life and he will be very good at it. Yori adores him, so he is a very good father, and I know that Quynn is deeply in love with him."

"You did not love my sister, did you?" Taeron did not want to hear that Staefyn would be nursing a broken heart.

"I once thought that I could, even with my bond, but when I finally had her and grew to know her, my infatuation with your beautiful sister grew into friendship. I felt her sadness for what she believes happened to me when Yori and Amyr brought her into communion with the ancestors." Staefyn squeezed his hand. "Will you tell her the truth, Taeron?"

"That you are not dead? She will be very angry with you. Do you think Yori will tell her?"

Staefyn shook his head. "Yori is considerate in keeping the secrets of others." He turned around and sat cross-legged to face Taeron who reached out to take his hands. "He knew who Dijana was all along on Norvana, but he did not tell you."

Taeron frowned at him. "So now I shall ask why you sabotaged my ship to send it past the frontier. You surely knew there was a great possibility that I would have been enslaved as Amyr had been? Do you think I would have accepted that? Don't tell me that you had no choice, that Xuxa made you do it."

"I had a choice, Taeron. She intended for me to plant an explosive that would have detonated after the princess boarded your ship. She wanted my father to be blamed, for him to be entrenched in war with Teralon so that she could strike when he was preoccupied with trouble on a frontier world."

Taeron could not forgive him so easily even if he had saved his life again. "We could have been captured and enslaved or worse." He shuddered to imagine what could have happened to Dijana.

Staefyn squeezed his hands and Taeron felt his calming magic. "The gods protected you, Taeron. They have always had a plan for you, probably since the moment Dax placed your mother in Meridon's hands to save her life."

"I only hope that I can prove myself worthy for their favor." The prospect was daunting.

Staefyn raised his head to look at Taeron in the moonlight. "What do you have planned for me? Shall I live in Xuxa's hut to await your visits?"

"That would be a miserable existence," said Taeron with a snort. "Fit only for a creature like her."

Staefyn laughed gruffly. "She was vile, but very accommodating as long as I did as she demanded. I won't tell you how many times she made me suffer, or how, when I did not obey her. The female was a tyrant."

"Did you love her?" The thought sickened him, but Taeron had to know.

"When I was young and first affected by the bond, I thought I loved her," admitted Staefyn sheepishly. "But I came to realize that she provided something for me that I needed, like air and food." He looked past Taeron to the pack he had brought with him. "Speaking of food, did you bring any? I haven't had the strength to find any on my own."

Turning, Taeron removed the pouch of food he had prepared from the pack and he handed it to Staefyn. "You will enjoy this."

"Sand slug, I hope." Staefyn dug into the pouch and withdrew one of the Teralonian beetles. "Ah! I have heard of these. They are from Teralon. When I visited Teralon, I had no idea they existed."

As Staefyn ate the green beetle, making sounds of pleasure, Taeron thought of the trip he had taken with Warlord Kai. "You must have seen Dijana then."

Staefyn stopped munching on the beetle, and after swallowing, he said, "I am ashamed to admit that I did not care about her or what the Varoonyan warlord was planning. Xuxa was waiting for me on the ship and I just wanted to get back to her as soon as possible although I knew my father expected me to consider one of Neria's daughters for marriage."

"She must have had her wings," remarked Taeron with a regretful sigh.

Reaching out to him, Staefyn took his hand and he shared with him his memory of meeting Dijana. She had been standing like an awkward fledgling with Sharisse who outshone her with her beauty, and yet Taeron was as captivated in this memory as he was the day she came onto his ship claiming to be someone else. Now he saw her flowing hair and her elegant wings that had been like her father's and his heart ached to imagine how painful it had been for her to lose them.

"You love her so much," commented Staefyn with a smile. "I am more happy for you than you can imagine, Taeron. If I cannot have that kind of love, I am consoled to know that you do."

"Do not give up hope," said Taeron.

"If Xuxa had not bonded me as a child, I could have fought it with my powers."

"Amyr has admitted to me that his second bond with Quynn did not last long after his power began to grow. He will never be as strong as you, but because of what that creature did to you ..." Taeron was disgusted anew, but he could not dwell on the past. "You asked me what my plan for you is." He dragged the large pack he had brought with him between them. "You are going on a trip, Staefyn."

"Am I?" He could see the amused raise to his brows. "Am I to accompany you to your new lands? And how will you explain my presence when I am presumably dead?"

"You are leaving Calabria with the Teralonians. I have already made the necessary arrangements with them, and they have given me an oath not to inform your parents that you yet live."

"Much as I enjoy this Teralonian fare, I do not want to imagine a future in a society where females are so powerful. I am sorry, Taeron, but I have already spent too much of my life dictated to by a female."

Taeron laughed. "I will be spending the rest of my life dictated to by one."

"A very beautiful female that you love and who loves you as well," pointed out Staefyn. "It took me far too long to realize that Xuxa didn't give a gods' damn about me." He fell silent for a moment and Taeron was glad that he did not have the memories that Staefyn had, nor did he have any intention or any desire to probe his mind to find out what he was thinking about. They knew each other well enough for him to be able to do it, but it was not worth the effort Taeron would have to expend.

Finally Staefyn remarked, "Speaking of dictatorial females, what has become of Keilana of house Caron?"

"You mean Keilana of house Staefyn, do you not?" Taeron raised a brow at the brother of his heart. "What did you intend to happen to her?"

Staefyn shrugged. "Xuxa told me to give her my oath and I did."

"You risked your life to keep her safe," remarked Taeron thoughtfully. "You must have seen something of worth in her, something that I did not see."

"You would not see worth in any female except Princess Dijana. I know that I have wronged that female, and I feel some responsibility towards her when I know that my father would certainly have nothing to do with her. He was probably infuriated that I exchanged vows with her, and I could see that he did not care if she lived or died by Xuxa's hand. What has become of her?"

"I can see how a man might find her desirable," he remarked to test him.

Staefyn snorted. "That insipid wench? Did you desire her, Taeron?" He added the last question as if it were an afterthought, but Taeron sensed Staefyn was eager to know.

Taeron laughed at his transparent jealousy. "Perhaps I thought that if I had to make her my wife, it would not have been such a chore."

For a moment he thought Staefyn was going to explode and he felt his outrage, but then Staefyn laughed. "You are even more perceptive than I remember."

"Quynn told me that she thought you might have had feelings for her."

"As much attraction as my bond would allow," admitted Staefyn. "Regardless of how I might have felt about her, Taeron, I could not act upon it. The gods were cruel to dangle her before me when I could never have her. I enjoyed claiming such a lovely female as my wife even though I could not share her bed because of Xuxa and now that Xuxa is gone, I feel nothing but the need of her clawing at my insides, a need that I know will ease into losing all desire for a female. Before you came tonight with Lady Trynity's medicine, I was considering the ways that I could end my life as the ancestors cried out to stop me from such contemplation."

"Then you should take heart in hearing that I have made arrangements with Queen Neria to have you delivered to Norvana where you will make the acquaintance with Carrinda."

Staefyn looked at him sharply. "You would send me beyond the frontier?"

"Do you have anything better to do, brother?"

He hung his head. "I suppose not. Is Carrinda the infamous healer who broke your bond and the first bond Amyr made with Quynn?"

"You had something to do with Amyr's bond," Taeron chided him.

"Only in suggesting that he give Quynn a rose that day.. I was living vicariously through him and imagined myself giving her the bloom. The lazy idiot did not remove the thorns and what is worse, he was such an ignoramus that he did not know the consequences of taking her blood." Staefyn snickered gleefully. "I can imagine how miserable he had been in those years separated from her."

"Feeling as you do now, you can still say that?"

Staefyn threw back his head defiantly. "He was a selfish bastard that did not deserve her! You know that as well as I do, otherwise you would not have aided in tearing them apart."

Taeron did not argue. Quynn would not have had anything to see in the garden the night she had exchanged vows with Amyr if Amyr had not flirted with the female serving his table and met with her in the garden. If he had not been bonded to Quynn, he would have used her as he had many times in the past even though he had made an oath to Taeron's sister.

"We will agree that Amyr was a bastard, but he has learned humility and he wants to set a good example for Yori," he finally said.

"What is to become of me once the healer has broken my bond?" asked Staefyn curiously.

Having given it much thought, Taeron was ready with an answer. "You will return to Teralon and wait for me to bring Dijana for the birth of our child." He squeezed Staefyn's hands. "I want you to be with us, Staefyn, when Caelitha joins us in this world."

His joy passed through their joined hands. "I would be honored, Taeron, to be at your side. I assume Amyr will be there as well."

"Amyr will be the first to learn that you yet live, and when I return to Calabria with my wife and daughter, I will bring with me the brother of my heart. Your mother and father love you and will readily forgive you. You could have snared the house Caron warriors with an oath to you, but you did not. They are very well aware of it, and Quynn has reported all that Xuxa did in your name that you had no knowledge of."

"I am guilty of denying her nothing," he grumbled. "And taking the blame for everything she and Kai did."

"When you return to Calabria, you will be able to begin your house with Keilana, now of house Taeron."

Staefyn frowned. "You are not bonded, Taeron. It is not wise for you to take another female into your house that does not share your blood."

Taeron shrugged. "I have no interest in her, and I have already given her a place in my home. It is only temporary, Staefyn, until you return with us in several months time."

He sighed deeply. "You have thought of everything, Taeron."

"I have made plans that, gods willing, I believe will work."

"The gods have always favored you, Taeron, but I cannot believe they are as forgiving for all that I have done." Staefyn turned his head to look at the steaming water. "When do I leave?"

Taeron glanced at the water too, and he smiled. "We have time to swim, but not for long. The first sun will rise soon and Dijana will wonder why I have not returned. I have a horse waiting for you. The Teralonians will be waiting for you at the foot of the hill path. I have packed away enough of the medicine to last at least until Norvana when you will no longer need it."

Standing, Staefyn started to remove his soiled, filthy clothing, but he stopped and he hugged Taeron. "I will miss you, brother."

As he held him close, Taeron mused about how long Staefyn had missed him already by closing off his memories. But they were young and they would make many more memories, memories they could share with their children and with their grandchildren until their voices joined with the ancestors.

THE END


End file.
